South Africa VS England Live Score: South Africa are all set to secure a place in the last-four given their strong net run rate currently.
Unlike Group A wherein two best sides — India and New Zealand — have sailed through with ease into the knockouts, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa in Group B are locked in for an intense battle over the two days for the remaining two semifinal berths.
A crushing loss by eight runs to Afghanistan not only sent England out of the contention for the semifinals but also kept the Asian team’s hopes alive of making to the final four, which has kept both South Africa and Australia on tenterhooks.
Afghanistan will take on Australia on Friday in Lahore riding on the big wave of confidence from their last outing between the two teams in the 50-over format.
The Afghans had pushed Australia to the brink in their last meeting in the 2023 ODI World Cup before Glenn Maxwell’s sensational 201 not out turned the tables.
While there are possibilities of the contest being affected by rain, a win for Afghanistan will be enough for them to seal a spot in the semifinal, as Australia’s defeat will leave the Steve Smith-led side locked in for a battle with South Africa for the second and final spot from this group.
South Africa (3 points, 2.140 NRR) are likely to progress if Australia (3 points, 0.475 NRR) beat Afghanistan (2 points, -0.990 NRR), even if the Proteas lose to England because of their healthy NRR.
(With PTI inputs)
