HOSTS England became the first team to qualify for the Champions Trophy semi-finals after hammering New Zealand by 87 runs in Cardiff to stay top of Group A on Tuesday.
Joe Root top-scored with an impressive 64 -- his 32nd score above fifty in 85 ODIs -- as England posted an all-out score of 310 after being put in to bat.
Victory meant England had won both their opening Group A games following their eight-wicket defeat of Bangladesh at the Oval last week.
"England bowled very, very well", said New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, "the way they extracted (some bounce) by cross seamers hitting the wicket hard".
Tuesday's success means England will return to the Welsh capital as Group A winners for a last four clash against the as yet unknown Group B runners-up on June 14, in an event featuring the world's leading eight one-day worldwide teams.
"We know that, and I think other teams know that as well".
ICC Champions Trophy: Nothing special about South Africa game - Virat Kohli
Since that 2013 series against Australia , Yuvraj has played only 10 ODIs until Thursday - he has bowled in only two of them. The target was achievable given the strength South Africa had in their batting line-up, however, they fell short by 26 runs.
The victor will progress to the semi-finals if England, who have already qualified from Group A, beat Australia in the section's final match at Edgbaston on Saturday.
Wood and Ball, who also removed Ross Taylor for 39, went for less than four runs an over as Rashid's leg-spin was also economical and accounted for Neil Broom and Mitchell Santner. Not for long, with Morgan dismissed for 13 in 12 balls after nicking the ball behind while attempting to punish Anderson.
England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has revealed that he would love the prospect of knocking Australia out of the Champions Trophy on Saturday (10 June).
"I thought we looked like we were getting about 340 at stages but fell away towards the end - which is disappointing", said Morgan. Mark Wood needed four attempts to bowl one ball, twice losing his run and then in his delivery stride when the bails blew off for the umpteenth time.
"He's a very good bowler, unique in the fact that he bowls at such good pace off maybe a five to 10-metre run up - which you don't see too much around the world", said Williamson.
Williamson, who escaped a ban for his side's slow over rate but was docked 40% of his match fee to go with 20% for his players, had few complaints over the result and admitted England's attack simply made better use of the two-paced pitch.





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