Karachi, Mar 1 (PTI) South Africa and Australia on Saturday qualified for the Champions Trophy semifinals after the Proteas bowled out a struggling England for 179, the lowest total of the tournament, in their final Group B match here.

Already eliminated from the semifinal race, England needed a victory by at least 207 runs to give Afghanistan a chance of qualifying based on the run-rate.

However, Marco Jansen (3/39) stole the show with the new ball, taking three crucial wickets, and Wiaan Mulder (3/25) and Keshav Maharaj (2/35) applied the pressure in the middle overs as South Africa confirmed their knockout berth, irrespective of the match’s result.

It remains to be seen who finishes on top of Group B and that will decide who India and New Zealand will play in the knockout stage.

In his final game as England’s ODI captain, Jos Buttler won the toss and chose to bat, but the decision backfired as Jansen wreaked havoc early, reducing England to 37 for 3 by the seventh over.

Opener Phil Salt (8) top-edged a rising Jansen delivery, while Jamie Smith (0) failed to handle a short ball and followed Salt back to the pavilion.

Harry Brook (19) and Joe Root (37) attempted a recovery with a 62-run stand, but just when the partnership seemed to gain momentum, South Africa struck twice in quick succession.

Brook fell to Maharaj as when Jansen took a superb catch in the deep while Root’s off-stump was sent cart-wheeling by Mulder.

England’s woes continued as Liam Livingstone (9) and Jamie Overton (11) quickly followed, leaving the side in disarray at 129-7 in the 26th over.

Buttler (21) and Jofra Archer (25) added some respectability to the total with a partnership of 42, but Archer was dismissed by Mulder, and the England skipper was then removed by Lungi Ngidi with a slow ball. PTI

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