Australia 281 for 5 in 50 overs (Bailey 69, Simmons 65) beat England 165 all out in 45.2 overs (Peng 57, Casson 4-33) by 116 runs England's hopes of reaching the semi-finals were all but ended as they slid to a convincing 116-run at the hands of tournament favourites Australia. England must beat South Africa on Friday and hope that New Zealand lose to Australia if they are to have any chance of progressing.

Australia thoroughly deserved their win, and England never looked likely to produce an upset. Needing to be at their best to run the Australians close, England dropped three catches and their bowling was at best mediocre. Their chances of winning evaporated when the Australians smashed 71 off the last five overs of their innings.

England's reply never really got going, and only Nicky Peng (57) offered anything other than brief resistance. James Whittaker, the England manager, was livid with the performance. "We knew this would be a tough game but I expected a little more resilience from us. I would have liked to have seen a little more fight in our middle order. We will have to think quite hard about the personnel in the team and decide who deserves to play on Friday."

Given that England's only wins in the competition so far have come against the might of Nepal and Papua New Guinea, the odds must be against them reaching the last four.

South Africa 241 for 7 in 50 overs (Bailey 69, Jacobs 63, Burtt 4-52) beat New Zealand 217 all out in 48.1 overs (Sheed 61, Nicol 51) by 24 runs

A fifth-wicket partnership of 140 between Ryan Bailey and David Jacobs set up South Africa's victory over hosts New Zealand. Coming together at 80 for 4, Bailey hit 69 off 54 balls and Jacobs 63 off 77 balls. New Zealand's reply was on course at 88 for 1 but a middle-order collapse, which included four run-outs, put paid to their chances of winning.

Super League Group 2

Current standings p w l bon pts nrr 1 Aus 2 2 0 1 9 +1.349 2 SA 2 1 1 0 4 +0.073 3 NZ 2 1 1 0 4 -0.210 3 Eng 2 0 2 0 0 -1.190

In the plate competition Nepal booked their place in the semi-finals with a 10-run win over Namibia, despite only posting a target of 138. Scotland boosted their chances of joining Nepal by defeating Canada by seven wickets, Robert More (40) steering them home after Canada were dismissed for 157.

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