England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler’s final match ended in a forgettable manner.
David Miller smashed a massive six over bowler Liam Livingstone’s head, a shot that symbolized the entire game. England simply couldn’t stand against South Africa, who cruised to a big win, securing the top spot in their group and advancing to the Champions Trophy semi-finals.
In what was Buttler’s last match as England’s white-ball captain, England couldn’t put up any resistance. On Saturday in Karachi, the former world champions were defeated by 7 wickets.
After England was bowled out for 179, South Africa confirmed their semi-final spot by reaching the target with 125 balls to spare.
Having already been eliminated from the tournament, England lost all three of their matches, setting a record for the most losses in a single tournament without a win. This bitter experience has previously been shared by Zimbabwe in 2006, West Indies in 2009, and Pakistan in 2013.
Overall, England has lost seven consecutive ODIs, and of their 11 limited-overs matches this year, they’ve lost 10. Under pressure, Buttler stepped down from captaincy the previous day.
The hero of South Africa’s victory was Marco Jansen, who claimed three wickets in the powerplay with brilliant bowling. He was also named the match of the match after taking three catches.
Fellow pacer Vian Mulder took three wickets with his controlled bowling, and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj grabbed two wickets.
Only one English batsman managed to score over 30; Joe Root made 37 from 44 balls.
Despite losing both openers before reaching fifty, South Africa won comfortably due to a 127-run partnership between Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen.
Van der Dussen scored an unbeaten 72 off 87 balls, hitting 6 fours and 3 sixes to secure his second consecutive fifty. Klaasen, in his first match of the tournament, made 64 off 56 balls, including 11 fours. This was his fifth consecutive fifty-plus score in ODIs, a record jointly held with Quinton de Kock and Jonty Rhodes.
Amidst their joy, South Africa also faced some discomfort. Regular captain Temba Bavuma was absent due to illness, and Aiden Markram, who captained in his place, injured his right hamstring while fielding. Klaasen took over as captain for the remainder of the match.
The only area where England managed to win was the toss. However, they quickly fell under pressure, losing three top-order wickets in the first seven overs.
After hitting two fours off Jansen in the first over, Phil Salt was dismissed for a catch off a short ball. In the following over, Jansen took another wicket as Jamie Smith was dismissed for just 6. Smith, playing at number three for the first time, scored 6, 15, and 9 in his previous matches.
After hitting a few fine fours, Ben Duckett (24 from 21 balls) was dismissed off a poor shot, giving a return catch to Jansen.
By the time England was reduced to 37 for 3, they had no way of recovering. Root and Harry Brook tried to resist with a 62-run stand, which became the highest partnership of the innings. Both were dismissed in consecutive overs, and Liam Livingstone also failed. With Jamie Overton’s dismissal, England was reduced to 7 wickets for 129.
A brief 42-run partnership between Buttler and Jofra Archer was all that England managed before losing their last three wickets in eight balls. England was bowled out for their lowest score of the tournament.
In Buttler’s final match as captain, he scored 21 runs off 43 balls. Archer was the second-highest scorer with 25 off 31 balls.
South Africa’s chase wasn’t smooth at first, with both openers falling cheaply. Tristan Stubbs was dismissed for a duck, and Ryan Rickelton (27 off 25 balls) was bowled out during the powerplay by Archer. But from there, van der Dussen and Klaasen made sure England had no chance.
Klaasen scored a quick fifty off 41 balls, while van der Dussen reached 72 off 72 balls.
Klaasen’s superb knock ended six runs short of victory. Over his last six innings in this format, he had scores of 86, 97, 81, 87, 64, and now 64 again.
Miller sealed the win with a 117-meter six off the second ball he faced, bringing the match to an end.
South Africa topped Group B with 5 points, while Australia joined them in the semi-finals with 4 points. Afghanistan was eliminated with 3 points.
Match Summary:
- England: 179 all out in 38.2 overs (Salt 8, Duckett 24, Smith 0, Root 37, Brook 19, Buttler 21, Livingstone 9, Overton 11, Archer 25, Rashid 2, Shakib 5*; Jansen 7-0-39-3, Ngidi 7-0-33-1, Rabada 7-1-42-1, Mulder 7.2-0-25-3, Maharaj 10-1-35-2)
- South Africa: 181/3 in 29.1 overs (Rickelton 27, Stubbs 0, van der Dussen 72*, Klaasen 64, Miller 7*; Archer 9-0-55-2, Shakib 5-0-31-0, Overton 5-0-34-0, Rashid 7-0-37-1, Livingstone 3.1-0-24-0)
Result: South Africa won by 7 wickets
Man of the Match: Marco Jansen
