Proteas trounce New Zealand as England, Ireland post facile wins at T20 World Cup

Skipper Aiden Markram smacked 86 not out off 44 balls as South Africa beat New Zealand by seven wickets at the T20 World Cup on Saturday. Markram's innings included four sixes and eight fours and underlined a dominant performance by the Proteas, as they won with 2.5 overs to spare.

- 

South Africa finished with 178-3 in reply to New Zealand's 175-7 after left-arm pacer Marco Jansen picked 4-40 in four overs.

It was New Zealand's first defeat in the tournament, while South Africa moved one step closer to the next round with three successive wins in Group D.

In Kolkata, England rebounded with a five-wicket win over Scotland thanks to Tom Banton’s 63 not out off 41 balls.

In the morning game at Colombo, Ireland thumped Oman by 96 runs to record its first win in three games at this T20 World Cup. Oman became the first team to be eliminated from the competition.

A crowd in excess of 50,000 - the highest for this World Cup - watched South Africa power its way to a win against the Black Caps with relative ease.