England Team Knock Out South Africa

No one would have thought it but England are in the semi finals

, two performances of top quality have resulted in reaching this stage.

England bowled perfectly against Sri Lanka on a very English wicket and yesterday batted with such aggression in the middle overs and were able to post an intimidating total of 324, their sixth biggest in ODI's - in a high-scoring Group B clash , the total proved way too much for Graeme Smith and his men, a result that knocks out the host nation.

A superb knock of 98 by Owais Shah was the backbone for England's score, while Eoin Morgan crashed 67 off 34 balls in the closing stages. South Africa skipper Graeme Smith did his best to keep his side alive in the tournament, hitting 141 despite being hampered late on by cramp.

However, the left-hander was left to do it all by himself, as no other home batsman made more than 36, South Africa finishing up on 301-8. While Smith and his side were left to lament yet another failure in an ICC tournament, England can begin to look forward to playing in the knockout stages despite having a group game against New Zealand to spare.

Considering they turned up on South African soil off the back of a 6-1 loss in the NatWest Series against Australia, their turnaround in fortunes has been as remarkable as it has been unexpected.

From the very outset they seemed to be batting with a positive outlook. Owais Shah combined with Paul Collingwood (82) to put on 163 for the third wicket before falling short of three figures. Morgan, who was also performing wicket keeping duties in the match due to Matt Prior being ruled out through illness, continued the duo's good work in a stunning late onslaught.

The Irishman proved he's got more in his locker than just some quirky sweeps with five sixes and four fours, helping England hit 48 in the batting powerplay. In the end his efforts proved the difference between the two sides, though South Africa only got close thanks to the efforts of one man.

Smith attempted to single-handedly keep his team from slipping through the trap door, hitting 16 fours to make his highest ever score in one-day cricket. He was fortunate to survive on two occasions, though, Morgan missing a tough stumping chance while Shah dropped a sitter of a catch out at long-on.

There was also a close leg before shout that umpire Steve Davis turned down. Stuart Broad removed Smith but it was James Anderson who was the pick of the bowlers, the Lancastrian taking 3-42 in his 10 overs, including the early scalp of the fit-again Herschelle Gibbs for 22.

by: Sarfaraz Khan

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