Proteas progress, England bow out

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Quick Single: Blackcaps set up Lankan showdown

South Africa made it three narrow wins on the trot to lock in a semi-final place in the World T20 and consign a valiant England side to a three-run defeat and elimination in Chittagong on Saturday night.

Stand in captain AB de Villiers – taking on the role for the suspended Faf du Plessis – lost a toss that has become increasingly important in this tournament given the presence of heavy dew on the outfield, and his side were sent in to bat by Stuart Broad.

England, riding a wave of confidence after their stunning victory over Sri Lanka, and confident that they held the upper hand through bowling before the grass became too damp, were quickly on the back foot, as South Africa set about rattling up the highest score of the tournament to date.

The Proteas' momentum was interrupted only by the first of two floodlight failures, both of which caused significant delays in play.

Either side of the enforced timeout, Hashim Amla (56 off 37) and Quinton de Kock (29 off 33) put their side very much on the front foot, sharing an opening stand of 90 before Amla lost his wicket to Broad with the penultimate delivery of the 11th over.

That brought to the crease de Villiers, who seemed energised and motivated in his role as skipper.

De Villiers took the innings by the scruff of the neck, blazing an unbeaten 69 from just 28 balls - including the fastest T20 50 by a South African, from just 23 balls - to almost single-handedly push the Proteas to a total of 5-196 – a total that would have been considered unreachable had England not achieved similar against the Lankans only two nights earlier.

And while the English chase got off to a much better star than that of 48 hours prior, it was the inability of any batsmen to kick on with their innings that truly cost Broad’s side.

Indeed, in a line-up that batted all the way to No.11 – a position occupied by Broad, himself the owner of a Test century – it was only the skipper who failed to reach double figures, though more tellingly, Alex Hales’ 38 from 22 deliveries at the top of the order remained the most significant contribution.

As a result, England rarely appeared to be genuinely in the hunt, and went into the final over needing 21 from the bowling of South Africa spearhead Dale Steyn.

Allrounder Tim Bresnan managed 16 of those from the final three balls, but it was too little too late, and South Africa now find themselves in the all-too familiar semi-final stage.