CARDIFF: South Africa advanced into the semifinals of the Champions Trophy on superior net run-rate after their rain-marred match against the West Indies in Cardiff yesterday ended in a tie.
The West Indies, who had to win this match to go through to the last four, were exactly level on the Duckworth/Lewis system for rain-affected matches at 190 for six off 26.1 overs when Australian umpires Rod Tucker and Steve Davis decided the rain was too heavy to continue and took the players off the field for the final time at 7.43pm local time (1843 GMT).
South Africa made 230 for six off their 31 overs, leaving the West Indies a target of 231 in 31 to win.
The Proteas joined already-qualified India as one of the two semifinalists from Group B.
Lanka keeps
hopes alive
Sri Lanka made light of an imposing target of 294 by beating England with 17 balls to spare to stay alive in the Champions Trophy on Thursday night.
England was on course to clinch a semifinal berth after posting 293-7 under The Oval lights, but a century by Kumar Sangakkara and brilliant late fireworks from Nuwan Kulasekara led Sri Lanka to 297-3, the second-best successful run chase in Oval history.
The seven-wicket win meant Group A remained an open race for the semifinals, with New Zealand on 3 points, Sri Lanka and England on 2, and defending champion Australia also in contention on 1.
The Sri Lankans were all out for 138 last Sunday in a loss to New Zealand, so their prospects were dim when they were asked to score at nearly 6 an over in the dusk. But the old heads spearheaded the chase and were at it almost straight away. Sangakkara was called on after only 14 balls, after opener Kusal Perera was out for 6.
He and Tillakaratne Dilshan, the world’s two leading ODI scorers last year, forced England to try six bowlers against them as they combined for 92 before Dilshan was out for 44 with a big heave to long on.
