England play South Africa in the first semi final of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, with India set to play neighbours Sri Lanka in the second. Alastair Cook's men saw off competition from Australia and New Zealand to qualify as winners of Group A. The Proteas needed a touch of fortune in their final Group B game - the match against the West Indies was tied on the Duckworth/Lewis system - to remain in the tournament.

England v New Zealand
Reuters

Where to Watch England v South Africa Live

Play is scheduled to start at 10.30am BST. Live coverage is on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 1 HD. Radio commentary is available on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and real time Internet updates are on ESPN Cricinfo.

Preview

England began the tournament with a confident run win over traditional rivals Australia. The hosts batted first at Edgbaston and a sparkling 91 from Ian Bell, backed by solid contributions from Cook (30) and Jonathan Trott (43) were rounded off by a 37-ball unbeaten 46 from Ravi Bopara to push the total to 269/6.

James Anderson produced an inspired 3/30 and with support from Tim Bresnan (2/45) and the rest of the bowlers, all of whom were among the wickets, Australia were restricted to 221/9.

It all went horribly wrong in London though, with Bresnan, Stuart Broad and the rest of the bowling attack leaking runs by the score to Sri Lanka. The batting remained brilliant though. The captain made 59 and both Trott and Joe Root cracked half-centuries as well. Unfortunately, Kumar Sangakkara surpassed them all with a match-winning unbeaten century (134 off 135 balls).

The result meant England needed to beat New Zealand in their final to game to qualify. The Kiwis were confident heading in to the fixture for they'd just beaten England in the summer's ODI series. This time the batting flopped, with Cook's 64 and Root's 38 the only scores of note in a total of 169. Anderson came to his country's rescue again, picking up openers Luke Ronchi and Martin Guptill with only 14 on the board and finished with 3/32.

England v New Zealand
Reuters

Meanwhile, in Group B, a South African side deprived of key striker bowler Dale Steyn stumbled to a 26-run loss against India in their opening game. MS Dhoni's men were first up and Shikhar Dawan blasted 114 from 94 balls to set up a massive 332 to chase. He had help from Rohit Sharma (65), Virat Kohli (31) and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who pinch-hit 47 from 29 balls.

In reply, the South Africans got off to a poor start, losing openers Colin Ingram and Hashim Amla for only 31 runs. Robin Peterson and AB de Villiers steadied the ship with half-centuries each and Ryan McLaren dealt in boundaries to smash 71 from 61 balls but in the end the target was just a little bit too much.

South Africa responded with a strong 67 run defeat of Pakistan, knocking them out of the tournament in the process. Amla hit 81 to guide his side to 234/9 and McLaren produced a superb spell of 4/19 from eight overs to lead his country to the win. Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Chris Morris helped with 4/48 from 16 overs between them.

AB de Villiers' men still needed to avoid defeat in their final game and began well. Ingram hit 73 off 63 balls and the captain, F du Plessis and David Miller all hit at above average strike rates to post 231/6 in a rain-affected match. The West Indies batsmen looked to respond in kind and anybody who saw Chris Gayle's destructive century in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) would have no doubt of their ability to chase in excess of eight runs an over. However, Gayle (36), Darren Smith (30), Marlon Samuels (48) and Kieron Pollard (28 not out) fell tragically short by one run.

Team Form

England

    • Last Five (most recent first): W L W W L
    • Last Match: England beat New Zealand by 10 runs
South Africa v West Indies
Reuters

South Africa

    • Last Five (most recent first): T W L W W
    • Last Match: South Africa tied with West Indies

Team News

England may have to do without Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan. The former has a calf problem and Bresnan is with his pregnant wife, who is two weeks overdue. Steven Finn and James Tredwell are the possible replacements.

Probable Line-Up: A Cook, I Bell, J Trott, J Root, E Morgan, J Buttler, R Bopara, S Broad, J Tredwell, J Anderson, S Finn

South Africa will be praying Steyn is fit to play, with either Rory Kleinveldt or Aaron Phangiso set to replace him if needed. There may not be too many changes otherwise.

Probable Line-Up: C Ingram, H Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, F du Plessis, D Miller, R McLaren, R Peterson, C Morris, D Steyn/R Kleinveldt, L Tsotsobe