Late recovery enables South Africa to finish at 175 against England

South Africa scripted a remarkable late recovery as they posted 175 all out after being down in the dumps at 80 for eight in the first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy in London on Wednesday.

Talented left-hander David Miller (56 no) in the company of tail-ender Rory Kleinveldt (43) added 95 runs for the ninth wicket in 16 overs as the South African total got some semblance of respectability.

Miller's unbeaten innings off 51 balls contained five fours and two sixes as he launched a swift counter-attack with an able ally in Kleinveldt who also didn't get bogged down by the reputation of the English bowlers. The South African pacer hit four boundaries and a six.

Just when it looked like South Africa would be dismissed for one of their lowest totals in ODI history, the duo provided stiff resistance with some positive strokeplay. Finally, Broad dismissed Kleinveldt with a rising delivery on the rib-cage, giving a catch to glovesman Jos Buttler.

Buttler enjoyed a field day behind the stumps with six catches to his credit as he also caught last man Lonwabo Tsotsobe to take his sixth scalp.

After being put into bat, South African batting wilted under pressure as none of the top-order batsmen save Robin Peterson (30), Faf du Plessis (26) were able to reach double digits.

Such was the domination of the England bowlers that AB de Villiers and Co found it difficult to buck the trend of faltering in major ICC tournaments.

New ball bowlers James Anderson (2/14) and Steven Finn (1/45) used the two new balls effectively and were duly complemented by Stuart Broad (3/50) and offie James Tredwell, (3/19) who proved to be an ideal replacement for their No 1 spinner Graeme Swann.