England slump to World Cup exit
Michael Vaughan and his team will head home after Super Eights
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Tuesday, 17, Apr 2007 10:59
A resounding nine-wicket victory for South Africa dealt a fatal blow to England's faint hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the cricket World Cup in the Caribbean.
The Proteas had little trouble accumulating the 155 runs needed for victory after a limp England batting display had been torn apart by Andrew Hall (5-18) and the rest of the Africans' bowling attack.
After choosing to bat first, Michael Vaughan and fellow opener Ian Bell got off to a painfully slow start with the captain facing 20 deliveries before finally getting off the mark.
Neither lasted long in run-scoring terms though, and once Kevin Pietersen had surrendered his wicket for just three runs to the aggression of Andre Nel, England's innings was poised to enter freefall at 53-3.
Andrew Strauss (46) and Paul Collingwood (30) delayed the descent with a 58-run stand for the fourth wicket, but then Hall struck with devastating effect.
After Strauss had holed out to Graeme Smith off the bowling of Jacques Kallis, Hall accounted for Collingwood just four runs later before taking another three wickets in his next eight balls.
When he trapped James Anderson to complete his five-wicket haul and the innings, England had collapsed to 154 all out with only 43 runs to show for the last seven wickets.
The South African batsman reached the meagre total inside 20 overs as AB de Villiers (42) and Graeme Smith (89 not out) ripped apart England's limp attack and underlined just how dismal the performance with the bat had also been.
The result means South Africa head into the semi-finals ahead of England and Duncan Fletcher's men have just one match left in the tournament - a dead rubber against hosts West Indies on Saturday.