England’s dismal Champions Trophy campaign ended with a sorry seven-wicket defeat by South Africa in Karachi.
Already out of the tournament after two losses from two, England were unable to lift themselves after captain Jos Buttler announced his impending resignation a day earlier.
Their batting woes deepened as they were bowled out for 179 in 38.2 overs, with Joe Root’s 37 the highest score amid a flurry of horrid dismissals. Buttler made 21 in his final outing as skipper.
That effectively sealed England’s seventh consecutive one-day international defeat by the halfway stage and South Africa took just 29.1 overs to complete their chase.
Jofra Archer took two early wickets but Rassie van der Dussen hit an unbeaten 72 and Heinrich Klaasen 64 from 56 balls as the pursuit became a procession.
The Proteas progress as group winners to the semi-finals, where they will play the loser of Sunday’s match between India and New Zealand.
England immediately head home after a torrid start to 2025. They have not been on a worse losing run for 24 years and their record in 2025 reads 10 defeats in 11 matches across one-day and T20 matches.
This is also the first time they have failed to win a match in the group stage of a global event.
There is, at least, a break of almost three months before their next fixture – a Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge which begins on 22 May to mark the start of the men’s home international summer.
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