ENG VS RSA - 39th Match, Super 12 Group 1, ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2021

Four wins in five games, yet eliminated. The group was rightly called the 'Group of Death' and South Africa couldn't get past the league stages, albeit by the barest of margins. In the end, the way they and Australia dealt with their respective chases versus Bangladesh is what made all the difference. South Africa had a trickier track probably, but shouldn't have taken that chase of 84 into the 14th over. Australia meanwhile, blasted the target of 73 inside the seventh over and nitro-boosted their own NRR. As Bavuma said, it was always going to be tough to catch up with, especially with the last game being against England. But overall, it was still a promising campaign for SA, lot of potential in there and it can only get better. As for England, they have finally lost a game in this WC but you saw how tough it was for SA to get across the line. That's why Morgan's men are tough to beat in white-ball cricket. They'll be worried about Roy's fitness though. Another double-header tomorrow, first game is the game for Indian fans. Do tune in for all the action. Until then, this is Hari Sadanandan signing off on behalf of Nikhil Jadhav, Abhinand Raghavendran, Pradeep Krishnamurthy and Mukesh. Cheers!

Hat-tricks in Men's T20 World Cup
Brett Lee vs. Ban, 2007
Curtis Campher vs. Net, 2021
Wanindu Hasaranga vs. SA, 2021
Kagiso Rabada vs. Eng, 2021

Hat-tricks by South Africans in White Ball international cricket
Charl Langeveldt - ODI v WI, 2005
JP Duminy - ODI v SL, 2015
Kagiso Rabada - ODI v Ban, 2015
Imran Tahir - ODI v Zim, 2018
Kagiso Rabada - T20I v Eng, 2021

Temba Bavuma: The win was important. Bitter-sweet end for us. We achieved what we wanted to - win the game but just couldn't win it big enough. At the start of the tournament, that (net run rate) was never a factor for us, we just wanted to win games. It's always tough to make up for that at the back end, especially against a team like England. The young guys will learn a lot from this. I think this is going to give us a lot of experience and confidence. It'll give us a lot of knowledge on how to go about things forward.

Eoin Morgan: I think it was a really good wicket. SA came really hard at us, batted well. I thought we were a bit off in the field, held them to a slightly par score. Obviously, Jason Roy going down the way he did does hurt, but we still did well to get that close. I think every game tests us in different ways. The biggest test this tournament has been against Sri Lanka, batting first and Jos Buttler rescued us from a hole. Had to bowl under the dew and we came out with flying colours. Today, there wasn't as much pressure although it was a good test. Probably Jason will be assessed tomorrow. We do have a lot of depth, we've built a good white-ball group over the last few years, so really excited. Yes, really happy, we've topped the group and that's never easy.

Rassie van der Dussen | Player of the Match: It (the award) doesn't mean too much in the context, but we knew we had to get a good score. We were asking too much from the bowlers to defend that score in order to get into the semis. At the end of the day, it was a good performance, beating a good side. It's a type of a wicket, where the new batters needed time to get in, you saw that in their innings when they lost wickets. So Markram and I tried to get in and get a good total. The three venues are so different. The match against Bangladesh, the pitch was different, it was difficult to bat there. Today it kept low, from the batting point of view it has been quite a challenge to adjust to the three venues. The batting units who have adapted the quickest have been the most successful.

21:46 Local Time, 17:46 GMT, 23:16 IST: Bavuma and co walk off dejected. It was always going to be tough to restrict England to under 132, although the absence of dew certainly was a factor in South Africa's advantage. But Roy and Buttler went hard, and although the former had to retire hurt due to a potential tournament-ending injury, England kept coming. All their specialist batters entertained, even if only briefly, but the game was theirs heading into the final over. But Rabada had the last laugh, removing both set batters in the first two balls and then adding one more next ball to get a hat-trick for himself. England were a bit slack on the field and that's probably what made the difference in the end, although SA still almost let this slip. Kudos to Rabada, as well as Pretorius and Nortje who held their composure fairly well.

Rabada to Adil Rashid, 1 run, England's unbeaten run in this WC has been snapped! They'll be glad it's come just before the knockout stages rather than during that stage. Slower one, heaved away down to long-on. Just a single

Rabada to Mark Wood, 1 run, in-angler, heaved away to deep mid-wicket

Rabada to Adil Rashid, 1 run, slower and shorter on off, pulled away down to long-on

Mark Wood, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Rabada to Jordan, out Caught by Miller!! And he gets the hat-trick! First of his T20I career and it's a WC hat-trick! Slower and shorter, Jordan flat-bats this but no power at all and long-off takes it with a slight tumble. Rabada can't believe his luck, got a pasting in his previous three overs but has come out trumps in the crucial final over. Jordan c Miller b Rabada 0(1)

Rabada to Jordan, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Adil Rashid, right handed bat, comes to the crease

KG on a hat-trick.

Rabada to Morgan, out Caught by Maharaj!! Back-to-back strikes! And this should be the game you'd think. Slower and shorter outside off, Morgan tries to pick it up on the leg-side with his trademark pull stroke but doesn't connect well at all. Holes out to deep mid-wicket. Morgan c Maharaj b Rabada 17(12) [4s-3]

Rabada to Morgan, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Chris Jordan, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Rabada to Woakes, out Caught by Nortje!! Has that gone all the way? No, it hasn't!! Caught on the brink, at the boundary! That was almost a maximum but those are the small margins of T20 cricket. Slower ball, Woakes didn't slog this as well as he would have liked but still seemed to have gotten a fair piece of it. Nortje near the ropes did well to first judge the catch and then ensure that his feet didn't touch the ropes. From a possible six to a dot, gamechanging. Woakes c Nortje b Rabada 7(3) [6s-1]

Rabada to Woakes, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Kagiso Rabada [3.0-0-45-0] is back into the attack