South Africa comfortably completed a thorough thrashing of an out-of-sorts England with a seven-wicket victory in Karachi, heading to the semis in style. They’d locked in their spot in the top-four by the halfway stage after bundling out England for just 179. Heinrich Klaasen made a seamless return to the side after missing the tournament opener through injury, notching up his fifth successive half-century in the format. Rassie van der Dussen scored his fifty too, and added 127 runs for the third wicket with Klaasen before wrapping up the game in the 30th over.

The England bowlers started slightly better than their batters as Jofra Archer struck twice in the PowerPlay. Tristan Stubbs fell for a five-ball duck in his first-ever opening gig in professional cricket when he played a ball onto his stumps in the third over. Saqib Mahmood then offered Ryan Rickleton a reprieve but Archer ensured that didn’t matter as he knocked back the stumps of the other opener in the ninth over. But England struggled to break through any further as van der Dussen and Klaasen put their side comfortably on course to surmount the small target ahead of them.

Jos Buttler tried throwing everything at the pair in search of a wicket. One of England’s best bowlers – Adil Rashid – tried in vain from both ends to break the partnership. Buttler even brought back Archer for his eighth over, in just the 21st of the innings. Klaasen back foot-punched the quick twice to mark his first game of the tournament with a 41-ball 50. By the halfway of the chase, van der Dussen brought up his fifty. With just six to get, Rashid ended the partnership with the wicket of Klaasen but David Miller sealed the chase with a straight six in the 30th over.

This humbling end to England’s woeful Champions Trophy campaign originated in the first half, when Buttler chose to bat in the hope of repeating what South Africa did to Afghanistan at the venue. What transpired though was disappointingly contrasting for his side. Marco Jansen sent the trio of Phil Salt, Jamie Smith and Ben Duckett packing by the seventh over. A 62-run partnership between Joe Root and Harry Brook turned out to be the best England could offer, as their downward spiral hastened once Keshav Maharaj dismissed Brook, through a sensational catch from Jansen.

Root, who started well, was then cleaned up by Wiaan Mulder, while Maharaj lured Liam Livingstone out of his crease to have him stumped. Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer showed a modicum of resistance in a 42-run stand but that barely moved the needle for England. Mulder dismissed the latter and finished with figures of 3-25 in 7.2 overs as England folded in the 39th over. Any hopes that Archer kindled with his opening spell were clinically crushed by the South African batters as the chase was wrapped up with 125 balls to spare.

Brief Scores:
England 179 in 38.2 overs (Joe Root 37; Wiaan Mulder 3-25, Marco Jansen 3-39, Keshav Maharaj 2-35) lost to South Africa 181/3 in 29.1 overs (Rassie van der Dussen 72*, Heinrich Klaasen 64; Jofra Archer 2-55) by 7 wickets