Sport

England crush South Africa to make Champions Trophy final

Trott and Root share century stand in seven-wicket victory

South Africa’s Lonwabo Tsotsobe (R) is caught from the bowling of England’s Stuart Broad during the ICC Champions Trophy semi final match at The Oval. Photograph: Philip Brown/Reuters
South Africa’s Lonwabo Tsotsobe (R) is caught from the bowling of England’s Stuart Broad during the ICC Champions Trophy semi final match at The Oval. Photograph: Philip Brown/Reuters
Wed Jun 19 2013 - 14:01

England crushed South Africa by seven wickets at The Oval to move within one win of their first global one-day international trophy.

Jonathan Trott (82 not out) and Joe Root (48) shared a stand of 105 to help the hosts surpass South Africa's paltry total of 175 with just under 13 overs to spare in today's Champions Trophy semi-final.

England’s bowlers made their task easy by ripping out the majority of South Africa’s batting order cheaply earlier in the day.

Superb bowling from James Tredwell and James Anderson left the Proteas at 80 for eight before Rory Kleinveldt (43) and David Miller (56 not out) restored some pride for the visitors.

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Alastair Cook (six) and Ian Bell (20) departed early on in England’s reply, but Trott, Root, and Eoin Morgan (15 not out) ended up seeing the team to their target comfortably.

Cook’s men will now face either India or Sri Lanka in Sunday’s final at Edgbaston.