Champions Trophy: What the Proteas must do to qualify for the semi-finals

The scenario facing the Proteas is simple – beat England in their final pool match on Saturday and they’re through to the Champions Trophy semi-finals.

But whether they finish first or second in their group will depend on what happens in the other match, between Afghanistan and Australia, who play on Friday.

Much will also depend on what happens in Wednesday’s match between Afghanistan and England. The match is effectively a knockout game, with the loser dumped out of the tournament, even with a game to go because both sides have already lost a match.

But the key matches are Friday and Saturday; wins for Australia and South Africa will see them advance.
Net run-rate will also possibly play a part.

In the other pool, India and New Zealand have already qualified, with Bangladesh and Pakistan crashing out.

‘Important game’

South Africa have so far beaten Afghanistan and shared points with Australia, following their rained-out match in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

Proteas captain Temba Bavuma said it was frustrating to not play on Tuesday.

“Yeah, it’s frustrating, we wanted to have some cricket and so did the fans, also wanting to watch two sides with confidence.

“Obviously, we go into the (England) game with winning (on our minds),” Bavuma told the media.

“It becomes another important game. England on paper are one of the stronger sides, so we know that as a group we’ll have to play to our best.

“But we’ve got a couple of days now. Kind of put our feet up and then probably after tomorrow start preparing for that clash.”

England will now get the Proteas’ full attention ahead of Saturday’s encounter in Karachi.

Return of Klaasen?

The big question is, will the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen take his place in the side, after missing the opening match against Afghanistan because of a sore elbow.

According to Bavuma, the big-hitting experienced middle-order batter is fit and may well have faced Australia had the match gone ahead.

“Klaasen is fit and adds value to our team. We will watch England play Afghanistan (in Lahore on Wednesday) to have an idea against them in our last match (in Karachi on Saturday),” said the SA skipper.

The Proteas are not likely to tinker too much with the side that got the better of Afghanistan in their opener, with Klaasen possibly coming in for Wiaan Mulder or Tony de Zorzi, which would force Bavuma to open alongside the in-form Ryan Rickelton.