Sharjah, Nov 7 (IANS): Rassie van der Dussen's unbeaten fifty and Kagiso Rabada's hat-trick (3/48) guided South Africa to a 10-run win over England in the final Group 1 Super 12 match of the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, here on Saturday.
Despite the win, the Proteas couldn't qualify for the semi-final of the tournament. They needed to keep England inside 131 but the Bavuma-led team failed to do so. On the other hand, England needed to pass 87 to guarantee qualification to the semi-finals and they sealed that spot inside 11 overs of the chase.
Fantastic unbeaten fifties by Rassie van der Dussen (94* off 60) and Aiden Markram (52* off 25) powered South Africa to 189-2 in 20 overs. Along with Dussen and Markram, Quinton de Kock also played a vital knock (34 off 27) for South Africa while Moeen Ali (1/27) was the most economical bowler for England.
Chasing a big total, in-form openers Jos Buttler and Jos Buttler gave England a flying start, racing to 37 without loss after four overs.
But, Eoin Morgan's side suffered a huge setback when Roy pulled up while attempting a single off the first ball of the fifth over, collapsing to the turf and being forced to leave the field. Soon, Jos Buttler was also dismissed for only the second time in the tournament, caught by Bavuma off Anrich Nortje for 26 off 15, leaving England to 58-1 after 5.3 overs.
Jonny Bairstow, who came to bat next, couldn't do much and was trapped in front by Tabraiz Shamsi. From there, the left-handed pair of Malan and Moeen built the recovery after the quick wickets of Buttler and Bairstow.
Ali unleashed against the spinners, hitting Shamsi out of the stadium with one monster maximum to take him to 37 off 26 balls. But Shamsi had his revenge off the next delivery as Ali miscued another attempted six to David Miller in the deep.
Liam Livingstone's hat-trick of sixes off Kagiso Rabada knocked South Africa out of the tournament and gave England great impetus in their chase of 190. Livingstone tried to hit another maximum but he failed with Miller taking a catch on the boundary to send the big-hitting Englishman back to the hutch for 28 off 17.
In the end, England's attempt to go for the win got derailed as three catches in the deep in succession gave Rabada a hat-trick in the final over as South Africa defended 14 off the last six balls to end their tournament on a high.
Earlier, batting first, South Africa lost the wicket of Reeza Hendricks (2) in the third over of the innings. Hendricks went down on a knee and attempted to sweep the ball towards square but he completely missed the line and was cleaned bowled by Moeen Ali.
De Kock and Van der Dussen then joined hands and took South Africa to 40/1 after six overs. Both batters cleverly chose attacking strokes and kept on hitting occasional boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking.
The solid 71-run stand for the second-wicket was finally broken by Adil Rashid in the 12th over as De Kock (34) looked to go big against the spinner but he didn't get the timing right and was caught at long-off, leaving South Africa to 86/2 after 11.2 overs.
The wicket didn't affect Proteas' momentum as new batsman Markram and van der Dussen kept the run-counter ticking at an impressive rate. While Dussein brought South Africa's 100 with a gigantic six against Wood in the 13th over, Markram joined the party by hitting a six against Rashid.
The pair went particularly hard after England's seamers in the middle overs, targeting the returning Mark Wood, who was playing in the tournament for the first time after replacing the injured Tymal Mills. Wood finished with figures of 0/47 off his four overs, with Chris Woakes faring a little better with 0/43, as England's seamers struggled in Sharjah.
Overall, Markram and van der Dussen had a brilliant 103-run unbeaten stand for the 3rd wicket and they took South Africa to a commanding 189/2 in 20 overs.
Brief scores:
South Africa 189 for 2 in 20 overs (Rassie van der Dussen 94, Aiden Markram 52; Moeen Ali 1/27) against England (Moeen Ali 37, Dawid Malan 33; Kagiso Rabada 3/48)