England lost Jason Roy to injury, and ended up falling short by just 10 runs
South Africa 189 for 2 (van der Dussen 94*, Markram 52*) beat England 179 for 8 (Moeen 37, Malan 33, Rabada 3-48) by 10 runs
5:34
Highlights – South Africa win, but it’s not enough
Rassie rises to the top
Moeen made early inroads for England when Reeza Hendricks, having been stymied at 2 off eight balls, attempted a release shot, the ball beating his attempted slog sweep to clatter into middle and leg stump in the third over of the match. Quinton de Kock, who came in with 35 runs from three innings in the tournament, reached 34 before he was caught by Roy off Adil Rashid.
He survived two England appeals to the DRS, the first an ambitious attempt to have a not-out decision for caught behind off Rashid overturned when he was on 27. That was followed by a much closer appeal for lbw to Chris Jordan, with ball-tracking showing impact on off stump but the batter was a long way forward and across and he prevailed on umpire’s call. Adding insult for England, van der Dussen struck the next ball for four to bring up his fifty stand with de Kock. In all, van der Dussen struck six sixes and five fours in an excellent knock to lead a resolute South Africa innings.
Markram muscle
Markram, muscled the England bowlers around during the closing stages of South Africa’s innings to complement van der Dussen’s knock. With two overs remaining, he had 35 off 18 balls and he stretched that to 52 from 25 by the end, as he helped himself to nine runs from the penultimate over, bowled by Mark Wood, who conceded 13 off the over and 47 runs for no wicket from his four in his first match of the tournament. Markram’s fourth six of the match came off the final over, an attempted yorker by Jordan which Markram dispatched over long-off to bring up his half-century. Jordan went for 36 off his four overs. Chris Woakes also came in for some van der Dussen – Markram punishment, conceding 21 off his final over, the 16th of the innings, to finish with no wicket for 43 runs.
0:57
WATCH – Markram brings up his fifty with a six
Roy drama
Roy pulled up alarmingly just a couple of steps into a run after being called through by Jos Buttler on the first ball of the fifth over. He hobbled to safety and then lay prone on the pitch for some time, clearly in agony. As he was helped from the field, Roy was unable to put any weight on his left leg and, having made 20 off 15 balls he retired hurt. Roy was to be sent for scans with England medical staff to make an assessment of his condition after that.
Moeen came in at No. 3 and struck two sixes en route to his score, his second – a massive swipe off Tabraiz Shamsi over long-on the highlight of England’s innings until Liam Livingstone smashed a 112m effort over deep midwicket for his fist of three sixes in a row off Rabada.
1:01
WATCH – Rabada bags hat-trick with Jordan wicket
Rabada hat-trick
Rabada had come in for some punishment at the hands of the England batters, with 0-45 from his first three overs. But he returned in the final over of the match to all but end England’s hopes of victory with a hat-trick off the first three balls. Needing 14 runs, England lost Woakes for seven, caught by Anrich Nortje running round at deep midwicket, then Eoin Morgan, their captain, who picked out Keshav Maharaj at deep backward square. When Jordan was caught by David Miller at long-off, Rabada had his three from three. England managed just one run off each of the remaining three balls, via Rashid and Wood as Rabada finished with 3 for 48 and South Africa ended with a bittersweet 10-run victory.
Valkerie Baynes is a general editor at ESPNcricinfo
