An impressive bowling performance powered England to the Champions Trophy summit clash as the hosts thrashed South Africa by seven wickets in the first semifinal, here on Wednesday.
The hosts bundled out South Africa for a meagre 175 after inserting them in to bat and then comfortably overhauled the target with 12.3 overs to spare.
Such was the domination of the England bowlers that AB de Villiers and Co found it difficult to buck the trend of faltering in major ICC tournaments. It was complete team effort by England as all the bowlers played a part in demolishing the South African top and middle batting order.
England had their rivals on the mat as they had reduced them to 80 for 8 at one stage and Proteas owed their recovery to some gritty batting by David Miller (56), who in the company of tail-ender Rory Kleinveldt (43) added 95 runs for the ninth wicket in 16 overs.
James Anderson (2/14) and Steven Finn (1/45) excelled with the two new balls and were duly complemented by Stuart Broad (3/50) and off-spinner James Tredwell, (3/19).
England lost their openers early but Jonathan Trott (82 not out) and Joe Root (48) batted with clam and assurance to lead the hosts to the finish line. They shared a 105-run stand for the third wicket.
Trott paced innings well as he batted cautiously initially and started playing strokes once it was sure that England had reached a safe position.
It is second time that England have qualified for the CT final. The last time they featured in the final was in 2004. That time also they had hosted the event and ended runners-up to the West Indies.
South African bowlers did a decent job, specially spinner Robin Peterson, but England had the luxury of wickets with a small target at hand.
Proteas removed openers Alastair Cook (6) and Ian Bell (20) early but Trott and Root did not allow South African to seize the momentum. They batted with a lot of responsibility as they waited for loose deliveries.
Trott’s knock came off 84 balls with 11 boundaries while Root helped himself with seven shots to the fence in his 71-ball knock. By the time Root JP Duminy dismissed Root, England were inches from the win.
Earlier, South Africa scripted a remarkable late recovery as they were down in the dumps at 80 for eight at one stage but managed to give their bowlers something to fight for.
Miller’s unbeaten half-century and Kleinveldt’s fighting knock provided some semblance of respectability to the total.
Miller’s innings off 51 balls contained five fours and two sixes as he launched a swift counter-attack with an able ally in Kleinveldt who also didn’t get bogged down by the reputation of the English bowlers. The South African pacer hit four boundaries and a six.
Just when it looked like South Africa would be dismissed for one of their lowest totals in ODI history, the duo provided stiff resistance with some positive strokeplay. Finally, Broad dismissed Kleinveldt with a rising delivery on the rib-cage, giving a catch to glovesman Jos Buttler.
Buttler enjoyed a field day behind the stumps with six catches to his credit as he also caught last man lonwabo Tsotsobe to take his sixth scalp.
Brief scores
South Africa: 175 in 38.4 overs (D Miller no 56, R Kleinveldt 43; J Tredwell 3/19) lost to England: 179/3 in 37.3 overs. (Jonathan Trott 82 no, Joe Root 48; R Kleinveldt 1/10) by seven wickets.