van der Dussen, Rabada seal consolation win for South Africa

England lost Jason Roy to injury, and ended up falling short by just 10 runs

South Africa 189 for 2 (van der Dussen 94*, Markram 52*) beat England 179 for 8 (Moeen 37, Malan 33, Rabada 3-48) by 10 runs

Van der Dussen provided the brains with his 94 not out from 60 deliveries and Markram the brawn with 52 from 25 to propel their side to 189 for 2. But South Africa needed to restrict England to 131 or fewer in their run chase to leapfrog Australia into the semi-finals on NRR. England topped the group, despite their 10-run defeat, which followed the dramatic loss of Jason Roy to a calf injury in the fifth over of their innings.

Moeen Ali came in when Roy retired hurt and top-scored for England with 37 from 27 deliveries. He shared a 51-run partnership with Dawid Malan, who was England’s next-best scorer with 33. But a late flurry of wickets – including a hat-trick to Kagiso Rabada in the final over – meant they fell short of their target. The sight of Roy on crutches at the conclusion of the match provided greater concern for England heading into the knockout stages.

Rassie rises to the top

Moeen made early inroads for England when Reeza Hendricks, having been stymied at 2 off eight balls, attempted a release shot, the ball beating his attempted slog sweep to clatter into middle and leg stump in the third over of the match. Quinton de Kock, who came in with 35 runs from three innings in the tournament, reached 34 before he was caught by Roy off Adil Rashid.

He survived two England appeals to the DRS, the first an ambitious attempt to have a not-out decision for caught behind off Rashid overturned when he was on 27. That was followed by a much closer appeal for lbw to Chris Jordan, with ball-tracking showing impact on off stump but the batter was a long way forward and across and he prevailed on umpire’s call. Adding insult for England, van der Dussen struck the next ball for four to bring up his fifty stand with de Kock. In all, van der Dussen struck six sixes and five fours in an excellent knock to lead a resolute South Africa innings.

Markram muscle

Markram, muscled the England bowlers around during the closing stages of South Africa’s innings to complement van der Dussen’s knock. With two overs remaining, he had 35 off 18 balls and he stretched that to 52 from 25 by the end, as he helped himself to nine runs from the penultimate over, bowled by Mark Wood, who conceded 13 off the over and 47 runs for no wicket from his four in his first match of the tournament. Markram’s fourth six of the match came off the final over, an attempted yorker by Jordan which Markram dispatched over long-off to bring up his half-century. Jordan went for 36 off his four overs. Chris Woakes also came in for some van der Dussen – Markram punishment, conceding 21 off his final over, the 16th of the innings, to finish with no wicket for 43 runs.

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