Pressure on Proteas after England smash United States to reach T20 World Cup semi-finals
Pressure on Proteas after England smash United States to reach T20 World Cup semi-finals
Reigning champions England qualified for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup after hammering the United States by 10 wickets in their concluding Super Eights match in Barbados on Sunday.
Chris Jordan took four wickets in five balls, including the third hat-trick of the tournament, as England dismissed the USA for 115.
England captain Jos Buttler then made a blistering 83 not out, hitting Harmeet Singh for five sixes in an over costing 32 runs, as his side raced to 117-0 in 9.4 overs.
By reaching their target so quickly England assured themselves of a place in the last four on net run-rate, regardless of the outcome of Sunday's final Group Two Super Eights match between co-hosts the West Indies and the Proteas in Antigua.
The South Africans, despite going through the tournament unbeaten, need to win the match to qualify for the semi-finals after missing out in the United Arab Emirates and Australia in the previous two editions of the tournament.
In the UAE in 2021, the Proteas went out on net run-rate despite only losing one match - to Australia - in the entire tournament. A year later they failed to qualify for the last four after losing a group-match against the Netherlands.
AFP