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South Africa have joined India, New Zealand and Australia as the semi-finalists of the 2025 Champions Trophy.
South Africa have become the fourth team to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy final. (AP Photo)
South Africa became the fourth and the last team to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy semi-finals on Saturday by restricting England to just 179 runs in their last league-stage match on Saturday.
England needed to beat South Africa by at least 207 runs to prevent them from qualifying and opening the pathway for Afghanistan to take the final spot instead, but that was no longer mathematically possible after the first innings. Even if South Africa lose the match, they would be level on three points with Afghanistan with a superior Net Run Rate (NRR) than the Asian team. This also ends Afghanistan’s journey.
The Proteas join Group A’s India and New Zealand and fellow Group B participant Australia in the top four of the competition. It’s the same top-four as the 2023 World Cup in India, where Australia came out victorious.
The semi-finals will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday (February 4 and 5). The fixtures, and which team will play against which side, will be decided after India and New Zealand’s last league stage match on Sunday.
The team that finishes first in Group A will meet the team that finishes second in Group B in the semi-final and vice-versa. South Africa had an NRR of +2.140 before this match against England, much higher than Australia’s +0.475 (they have an extra point) and even a narrow win or a draw would mean they’ll finish at the top.
Whichever team between India and New Zealand wins Sunday’s clash will finish on top of Group A and the loser will likely play against South Africa in the semi-final.
South Africa beat Afghanistan by 107 runs in their campaign opener at the National Stadium in Karachi. Their next match against Australia at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium was washed out due to rain.
Afghanistan could have put more pressure on South Africa had they beat Australia on Friday but that match was abandoned due to rain, too. The Aussies also beat England and the two wash-outs gave them enough points to qualify for the next round.
Meanwhile, India and New Zealand both qualified after taking big wins over their Group A opponents Bangladesh and Pakistan.
- Location :
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
