Sharjah: Rassie van der Dussen smashed an unbeaten 94 and Aiden Markram made 52 not out in a brilliant display of power hitting as they steered South Africa to a commanding 189 for two in their final Group 1 Super 12 match of the ICC T20 World Cup against England here on Saturday.
Van der Dussen's 60-ball unbeaten knock had five fours and six sixes while Markram struck two boundaries and four maximums off 25 deliveries during his unconquered innings as the duo shared 103 runs for the unbroken third wicket after South Africa were invited to bat.
The Proteas added 116 runs from the back-10, thanks to fireworks from van der Dussen and Markram.
South Sfrica now need to restrict England to 131 runs to qualify for the semifinals.
South Africa needed a big win to push up their net run rate, but they made a slow start and on top of that, they lost their opener Reeza Hendricks (2), cleaned up by Moeen Ali in the third over.
The Proteas did not go hammer and tongs in the powerplay, by the end of which they were just 40 for 1. One-down van der Dussen was intent on taking the England bowlers and he was able to hit Chris Woakes for a six and a four in the sixth over.
Quinton de Kock (34) and van der Dussen were able to get the odd boundaries and South Africa reached to 73 for 1 at the halfway mark.