England on Saturday secured a semi-final spot in the T20 World Cup despite their defeat to South Africa in a thrilling encounter. South Africa crashed out of the T20 World Cup despite registering a sensational win against England in their last match of the group stage.
The star of today’s match was Kagiso Rabada, who picked up a hat-trick to ensure a victory for his side. Rabada, who had conceded 45 runs in the first three overs, gave away just three runs in his last over and dismissed three English batsmen in as many deliveries.
Batting first, South Africa had made 189-2 in 20 overs with Rassie van der Dussen scoring 94 in 60 balls. Aiden Markram scored a quickfire 52 in just 25 balls.
England began their run chase on a positive note was but kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They were also unlucky to have lost Jason Roy through injury just when he was beginning to look dangerous for South Africa. In the end, the side led by Eoin Morgan fell short of 10 runs.
South Africa ended their World Cup with four wins in five matches, securing eight points. England and Australia too have eight points in five matches but both these two teams enjoyed better net run rate compared to South Africa.
Had England failed to go past 131 runs in today’s match, South Africa would have qualified for the semi-final along with Eoin Morgan’s side. Had England failed to score 87 runs, South Africa and Australia would have progressed to the knockout stage.
In another match, Australia beat West Indies by eight wickets to book a place in the semi-final.
Batting first, West Indies had made 157-7 in 20 overs. Australia achieved the target by losing just two wickets with 3.4 overs to spare. David Warner was the hero of the match as he remained unbeaten at 89, scored in 56 balls.