South Africa 212 for 5 in 50 overs (R Bailey 55*, GJ Muchall 3-55) beat England 197 in 40 overs (IK Postman 4-56) by 15 runs

England made a brave attempt to qualify for the semi-finals of the Under-19 World Cup at Lincoln Green in Christchurch, but in the end they fell just short. England needed to claim the bonus point to have any chance of progressing, so had to overhaul South Africa's 212 for 5 inside 40 overs rather than the full 50.

Although Bilal Shafayat (38, with seven fours) and Kadeer Ali (44, with six) made a bright start, putting on 65 in 14.3 overs, the early loss of Nicky Peng (6) and Kyle Hogg (8) proved too much for the later batsmen. Slow left-armer Ian Postman delivered the goods, with four wickets, including the hammer blow of Shafayat and Peng with successive balls.

Down the order Gordon Muchall hit 28, and Tim Bresnan slapped a quick 25, but it was tool little, too late. It meant that England had lost all three of their matches in the Super League phase of the competition.

Earlier Muchall had taken three wickets to set South Africa back. When Hashim Amla, South Africa's captain. Was lbw to Shafayat it was 103 for 4, but sensible play from David Jacobs (40), Man of the Match Ryan Bailey (55 not out) and Ryan McLaren (40 not out) took the score past 200.

New Zealand 194 in 46.4 overs (JD Ryder 70, AC Bird 3-50, XJ Doherty 3-23) lost to Australia 196 for 3 in 39.3 overs (SE Marsh 70, CL White 80*) by 7 wickets

Australia, the tournament favourites, brushed New Zealand aside at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln, claiming a bonus point by passing their target inside 40 overs. Australia marched on to the semi-finals, but New Zealand were eliminated.

New Zealand started quickly, but once opener Jesse Ryder had gone for 70 – from 62 balls, with six fours and three sixes – the lower order folded against the pace of Aaron Bird and the left-arm spin of Tasmania's Xavier Doherty, who both took three wickets.

When Australia batted New Zealand opened up with two spinners, and it paid off initially – two wickets went down in the first four overs. But then Shaun Marsh and Cameron White, Australia's captain, came together in a decisive stand. They put on 139 before Marsh, the son of former Test opener Geoff, was run out for 70. He hit nine fours.

White stayed till the end, finishing with 80 not out, which included eight fours. He later admitted he'd been worried when New Zealand shot off so quickly at the start. "We picked a team with a few spinners, and we tried to slow it down with them," he said. "I hadn't seen any of the New Zealanders before, and Ryder hit the ball well."

In the semi-finals, both of which will be played on the Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln, India, the holders, will play South Africa on Sunday (Feb 3), while Australia will take on West Indies on Feb 6.

In the plate competition in Auckland Nepal and Namibia both confirmed their qualification for the semi-finals. Nepal, the tournament's surprise packages, had a comfortable 48-run victory over Scotland. Kanishka Chaugai (43) and Yashwant Subedi (45) put on 102 for the first wicket as Nepal reached 205 for 5, then Scotland could only manage 157. Brendan McKerchar top-scored with 42, while Sakthi Gauchan took 3 for 32.

In the other match Namibia ran up 226 against Canada. Michael Durant made a patient 53 not out from No. 7, then took 3 for 21 as the Canadians were bundled out for 85. Johan Nel claimed 3 for 15 from his ten overs.

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