Rassie van der Dussen on Saturday smashed an unbeaten 94 as South Africa beat England by 10 runs, but failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup.
Group 1 winners England and Australia, who beat West Indies in the first match of the day, made the final four from the six-team pool.
South Africa posted 189 for two after Van de Dussen smashed six sixes in his 60-ball knock, but needed to limit England to 131 or fewer to edge out Australia on net run-rate.
Photo: AP
England, who topped the group when they passed 109, finished on 179-8 after a hat-trick by Kagiso Rabada in the final over. It was England’s first loss in five matches.
Pakistan are already through to the semi-finals from Group 2 with India, New Zealand and Afghanistan fighting for the last spot.
“The win was important, but a bittersweet ending for us,” South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma said, after his side finished on eight points, the same as England and Australia.
“Tough to bring net run-rate into effect in our last game, especially against a side like England,” he added.
Former champions West Indies and Sri Lanka will have to go through the preliminary round of next year’s World Cup in Australia after dropping out of contention for the eight automatic qualification spots for the Super 12 stage.
The finalists of the Cup and next six highest-ranked teams at the cutoff on Monday next week would be the automatic qualifiers for the Super 12 stage in next year’s tournament, according to the International Cricket Council.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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