Clinical S Africa overpower clueless England by seven wickets
Cricket
For Afghanistan to qualify, England must defeat South Africa by a massive margin.
KARACHI (Dunya News) - Clinical South Africa defeated clueless England by seven wickets to end the latter's tournament spree on a difficult note.
Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen provided brilliant performances for the Proteas as they scored 72 and 64 runs respectively.
Keen to end their tournament's bad performances on a high note, England, however, crumbled yet again in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025 , this time against South Africa.
The English side scored 179 runs with some contributions from Joe Root and Jofra Archer.
Macro Jansen started the match on a positive note for the Proteas as he claimed three wickets along with Wlaan Mulder who also hit three targets.
Earlier, English Captain Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bat in what was a challenge for pride for them, as they face South Africa in their last tournament's encounter.
England have made one change, replacing Mark Wood with Saqib Mahmood. For South Africa, ill Temba Bavuma sits out while Aiden Markram gets to lead the side. Tony Dezori and Bavuma get replaced by Tristan Stubbs and Henrich Klaasen.
The spotlight is on today’s (Saturday) ICC Champions Trophy match between England and South Africa, but more than that, Afghanistan is keenly watching the outcome, as their semi-final qualification depends on this result.
Yesterday, Afghanistan vs Australia was washed out due to rain, with both teams sharing a point. This result confirmed Australia’s place in the semi-finals, while Afghanistan’s chances took a big hit.
For Afghanistan to qualify, England (already eliminated) must defeat South Africa by a massive margin.
Qualification scenario for Afghanistan
If England sets a target of 301 runs, they must defeat South Africa by 207 runs or more to push South Africa’s net run rate (NRR) below Afghanistan’s. This is a highly unlikely scenario, but Afghanistan’s only hope.
