Champions Trophy: South Africa beat England to reach semi-finals
What's the story
South Africa thrashed England in their final 2025 ICC Champions Trophy encounter in Karachi.
The Proteas entered the semi-finals after chasing down 180. Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen led SA's run-chase.
Earlier, Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder helped the Proteas bowl England out for 179 (38.2 overs).
Notably, SA were required to lose by at least 207 runs for Afghanistan to qualify.
England
England bowled out for 179
Batting first, England were down to 37/3, but Joe Root and Harry Brook took them toward 100.
Keshav Maharaj broke the crucial stand by removing Brook, and England further slumped to 129/7.
Root's 37(44) somehow bolstered England, who were bowled out for 179 in 38.2 overs. Jofra Archer also scored a 31-ball 25.
As mentioned, Jansen and Mulder took three wickets each for SA.
South Africa
SA excel despite losing two early wickets
England came out with an attacking approach. Jofra Archer dismissed Tristan Stubbs for a duck in the third over.
The Proteas also lost Ryan Rickelton in the first powerplay, however, Klaasen and van der Dussen made it one-sided.
Klaasen led from the front in the absence of SA's stand-in captain Aiden Markram, who earlier left with an injury. SA were home in 29.1 overs.
Information
A rarity of Stubbs!
Stubbs was promoted to open the innings for SA. However, he departed for a duck. As per Cricbuzz, this was first instance of Stubbs opening the batting in his professional cricket career (First-Class, List A, or T20s).
Three-fers
Jansen, Mulder shine with three-fers
Jansen's phenomenal bowling saw him pick three wickets upfront, leaving England at a vulnerable 37/3 in the first seven overs.
Wiaan Mulder equaled Jansen's feat by taking three wickets as well, increasing the pressure on the English side. Mulder knocked over Root, who scored a brilliant century against Afghanistan.
Mulder was the most economical Proteas bowler (3.40), conceding just 25 runs in 7.2 overs.
Ngidi
Ngidi completes 100 ODI wickets
While Jansen and Mulder bowled in tandem, Ngidi sent back English skipper Jos Buttler. With this, he completed 100 ODI wickets.
As per Cricbuzz, Ngidi is now the second-fastest Proteas bowler to 100 wickets in ODI cricket (in terms of balls). The Proteas seamer too 3,048 balls, only behind Morne Morkel (2,859).
Ngidi went past Imran Tahir, who attained the feat in 3,050 deliveries.
Buttler
End of Buttler's captaincy tenure
England have crashed out of the 2025 Champions Trophy without a win, losing to Australia and Afghanistan.
This also marks the end of Jos Buttler's captaincy tenure. Ahead of the South Africa encounter, Buttler announced his resignation as England's white-ball captain.
Buttler has led England to 18 wins in 45 ODIs between 2016 and 2025. He was appointed England's full-time limited-overs skipper in 2022.
Semi-finals
SA enter as fourth semi-finalists
After the first innings against England, the Proteas qualified for the semi-finals due to their better Net Run Rate (NRR) than Afghanistan.
As mentioned, England had to beat South Africa by at least 207 runs for Afghanistan to qualify.
With their qualification confirmed, South Africa now join India and New Zealand from Group A. Australia are the other side from Group B.