Joss Buttler's reign as England white-ball captain ended with a whimper as South Africa strolled to a seven-wicket Champions trophy victory in Karachi on Saturday.
England's tournament exit had already been guaranteed following defeats to Australia and Afghanistan which had resulted in Buttler resigning on Friday saying that his captaincy had “reached the end of the road”.
But any hopes about ending his reign with a victory were scuppered when England were skittled out for 179 in 38.2 overs after winning the toss and choosing to bat.
Joe Root, who scored a valiant century in the defeat against Afghanistan last time out, top-scored again but managed just 38 at the National Bank Cricket Arena with Buttler (21) one of only four players to pass the 20-run mark.
Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder did the damage with the ball for South Africa taking 3-39 and 3-25, respectively.
Fast-bowler Jofra Archer took two early wickets – bowling Tristan Stubbs (nought) and Ryan Rickelton (27) – to give England a glimmer of hope.
But that only brought in Heinrich Klaasen alongside Rassie van der Dussen and the pair put together a partnership of 127 that took the game away from Buttler's side.
Klassen would depart after a 56-ball 64 with South Africa just five runs away from victory and new batter David Miller soon launched Liam Livingstone down the ground for six to seal the win with more than 20 overs to spare.
Van der Dussen finished unbeaten on 72 with his knock coming from 87 balls, including six fours and three sixes, which helped condemn England to a clean sweep of three defeats in Pakistan.
“That was a really disappointing performance,” admitted a crestfallen Buttler. “We were so far short of the mark there.
“As a whole group, not just batters, we're not getting the results and that does take away your confidence. It's time for everyone to get away, get a change of scenery and work hard wherever cricket takes you next.
“From this point forward, there is a huge opportunity for people inside and outside the dressing room to really put their hand up and say they want to be part of the rebuild of this white-ball team.
“There is no doubt that the talent is there, there is all the makings of a really good side so I do believe it can be turned around.”
South Africa are safely through to the semi-finals where they will take on either India in Dubai or New Zealand in Lahore.
Captain Aiden Markram hailed the efforts of fast-bowler and player of the match Jansen. “He's been huge for us,” Markram said.
“We all know in the powerplay you need to be taking wickets up front and he finds different ways of doing it. He's been peaking at the right time for us and is leading the attack with Kagiso Rabada really well.
“The boys were really good. The wicket was quite slow, slower than we expected, and changed our initial plans. The boys adapted to the conditions out there and through that, we were able to take wickets throughout the innings and keep the momentum.”
On potentially playing in Dubai next Markram added: “We'll have to see when we get there what conditions are going to be like. We've got a great squad with great options and ultimately, we'll pick the squad to get the job done on the day.”
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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