To secure a place in the semi-finals with 4 wins from their 5 matches, South Africa needed to keep England down to 131 or below in their defence of the 189-run total in Sharjah. But the moment the English batting line-up crossed that mark, it was the end of Temba Bavuma and company’s World Cup dream.
England and Australia also recorded four wins from their four games in what was a tough Super 12 group to be a part of, but those wins came with a better NRR (+2.464 and +1.216, respectively) than South Africa’s (+0.739).
The Proteas were left to rue making just 118 in their defeat to Australia, winning the match against Sri Lanka with only two balls to spare. But most pertinently, not chasing down the paltry 85 against Bangladesh as early as possible.
This is where Aussies inched ahead of South Africa. They not only defeated Sri Lanka and West Indies comprehensively but also routed Bangladesh in their turn, securing victory in the chase of 74 in just 6.2 overs. Unlike South Africa, who took 13.3 overs to make 86 versus Bangladesh.
On the day, a magnificent batting effort from No.3 Rassie van der Dussen (94 off 60), ably supported by Quinton de Kock (34) and Aiden Markram (52*), helped the Proteas dominate the first half of the game against England.
Post the early departure of opener Reeza Hendricks, De Kock and Dussen took control of the proceedings and took their team past 80 in just over 11 overs. De Kock got out for 34, but his partnership with Dussen gave South Africa the right kind of momentum to kick on. Dussen was then joined by the in-form Markram, and their terrific stand took Proteas to 189/2.
The two players gave no respite to the English attack and hit a flurry of boundaries whilst they were there. Markram hit another of his attractive fifties while Dussen proved that he can not only anchor a South African innings but also play the aggressor when required. Off-spinner Moeen Ali (1/27) was the only bowler from the English attack to end with respectable figures on the night.
In the second half, England’s batting depth came to the fore as they ran toe to toe with South Africa despite losing untimely wickets, but then their entire surge collapsed in the final over. Defending 14 off the last 6 balls, Kagiso Rabada, who had proven really expensive earlier on, stood resurrected and took a hat-trick off his first three balls. Eventually, England could make only three runs off his over.
But before that disastrous last over, England were in with a chance thanks to batting efforts from Moeen (37), Dawid Malan (33) and Liam Livingstone (28). Jos Buttler was in top gear at the start of his innings, making 26 off 15. His partner Jason Roy (20*) was also beginning to gain some flow to his innings when he went down on the ground with a painful hamstring injury. Roy had to limp off the field in great pain and was seen on crutches later on.
England needed someone to play a substantial knock of the kind that Van der Dussen played. But even in a defeat, they’ll be delighted to have been tested so hard just prior to entering the knock-out stage.
For South Africa, spinners Keshav Maharaj (0/23) and Tabraiz Shamsi (2/24) were the real stars with the ball, as it was them who put the breaks on the run-scoring and chipped away at the wickets column to derail England’s progress in the run-chase.
Brief scores
South Africa 189/2 in 20 overs (van der Dussen 94*, Markram 52*; Ali 1/27) beat England 179/8 in 20 overs (Ali 37, Malan 33; Rabada 3/48) by 8 wickets
