AB whirlwind takes SA thru'

England's three-run defeat to South Africa in Chittagong yesterday meant that they were out of the ICC World Twenty20, while the Proteas with six points confirmed a berth in Dhaka for the semifinals. While the early exit reflects the reason why England are ranked eight in T20Is, they however had given it their all in this tournament.  
From riding on Alex Hales' record century to beat favourites Sri Lanka to attending two training sessions -- an extra one under lights -- ahead of the South Africa game, what more could a team have done?
Unfortunately for them, South Africa preserved their batting performance for the end and posted the tournament's highest score, 196, after batting first. It was a murderous innings from AB de Villiers, who hammered 69 off 28 balls that made the difference. In reply, England were restricted to 193.
The intense game lived up to its 'do-or-die' billing. For the first 10 overs, England, courtesy of Hales and Michael Lumb were right on to the chase. The duo hammered 46 runs in 4.4 overs and left de Villiers -- who eventually used six bowlers in the first seven overs -- worried.
An in-form Hales was driving and pulling anything that was in his zone. Beuran Hendricks got the worst of it as he was punished for two fours and a six in the last over of the powerplay.
However, Wayne Parnell's return proved to be a huge boost as he removed both Hales and Moeen Ali in the eighth over. The difference after that was quite evident. The next five overs saw England just score one boundary.
Jos Buttler and later Tim Bresnan tried to reignite the chase with some big hits towards the end, however, the task of scoring 64 off the last five overs with two from Dale Steyn seemed out of reach.       
Earlier, batting first Hashim Amla scored a career-best 56 off 37 balls to lead the charge. He shared a 90-run opening stand with Quinton de Kock, who supported him with a 33-ball 29. Amla made his intentions clear very early in the innings by flicking Jade Dernbach for a six over square-leg and reached his first 50 in 30 balls. At 85 for no loss after ten, it was the perfect platform.  
Soon after, Amla was caught at deep mid-wicket in the 11th, while de Kock was stumped two overs later.
If England thought the double strike would give them a breather, then they clearly were on the wrong track as de Villiers came in and turned around the game.    
His onslaught helped South Africa score 75 runs off the last five overs. An amazed ZACS watched in awe as he hammered a total of three sixes and nine fours. There were two hits that best depicted how well he was timing the ball.
The first was a reverse paddle sweep for four through third-man, in the 19th over, which he played after taking a step towards the off-stump and adjusted after getting in position to play a normal sweep.
The second hit was a wristy flick off a delivery that was bowled way outside off stump. He placed his front foot at the pitch of the delivery and powerfully flicked it for a six in front of deep-fine leg.