England qualify for semis despite South Africa loss

England reached the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup despite their 10-run loss to South Africa Saturday with Ashes rivals Australia also making the last four from Group I.

With Australia beating West Indies in the previous match of the day, South Africa needed a victory and a massive run-rate boost to be the second team from Group I to make the last four.

They showed some intent with the bat and Rassie van der Dussen blasted an unbeaten 94 off 60 balls to propel South Africa to 189-2, their highest score of the tournament.

Their total meant South Africa had to restrict England to 131 or fewer to make the semi-finals ahead of Australia while scoring 87 was enough for Eoin Morgan’s team.

Moeen Ali (37) and Dawid Malan (33) chipped in with breezy cameos to snuff out South Africa’s semi-final hopes but Kagiso Rabada’s final over hat-trick restricted England to 179-8 snapping their winning streak in the tournament.

ARR