England beat South Africa by seven wickets at the Kennington Oval in London on Wednesday to qualify for the final of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. England's bowlers did most of the damage early on by reducing South Africa to 80-8 before eventually bowling them out for 175. England then chased down the target inside 38 overs led by Jonathan Trott's 82* to qualify for their second Champions Trophy final having previously qualified in 2004.

Group A toppers England faced off against South Africa, who finished second in Group B, in the first Knock-out game of the competition. England won the toss earlier in the day and decided to bowl first. England went into the game being forced to make two changes, as Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan were forced to sit out, while James Tredwell and Steven Finn replaced them. South Africa on the other hand were forced to rest Dale Steyn while Rory Kleinveldt took his spot in the squad.

Co-hosts England will square off against South Africa for the first semi-final of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy on Wednesday at the Kennington Oval in London. England finished on top of Group A after ending on four points, though with a higher net-run rate than Sri Lanka, who also finished with four points after their Group Stage games. Both teams would seek to put in their best performance on the day, as the tournament reaches the knock-out stages in it's last week of matches.

England edged out New Zealand by 10 runs in a rain curtailed game and made their way into the tournament’s semi-finals. After setting the Kiwis a target of 170 in 24 overs, England managed to restrict them to 159-8 courtesy some fine bowling by Anderson, Bopara and Bresnan. The skipper, Alastair Cook, was chosen Man-of-the-Match for his brilliant batting performance. New Zealand’s fate now rests on tomorrow’s group stage match between Australia and Sri Lanka.

The final round of Group A matches began with the hosts England taking on New Zealand at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. The Kiwi captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and elected to field first, hoping to be advantaged by the Duckworth-Lewis calculations if rain interrupted the match. The game was a virtual quarter-final, with a win for either team meaning a guaranteed semi-final spot.

Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere is set to return for pre-season training starting from July 4 after undergoing a successful operation for the persistent ankle injury that has troubled the youngster for the past two years.

Both England and Arsenal are set to receive a massive boost from the return of Wilshere, who was sidelined with a major ankle problem at the beginning of the 2011/12 season. The 21 year old returned to serve his club and country but the recurring problems with the ankle injury jilted the midfielder to Arsenal’s bench for the second half of last season.

England take on New Zealand in the 11th match of the ICC Champions Trophy in Sophia Gardens, Cardiff in what will be their 4th ODI meeting in just under a month. The wash out of the Australia vs New Zealand match on Wednesday has left Group A wide open as any two teams still have the chance of making it to the semi-finals. That being said, the two table toppers New Zealand (3 points) and England (2 points) will come out on the field all guns blazing as the winners of this tie will definitely reach the semi-finals. England will be under more pressure though, because even if New Zealand lose, they will still have an outside chance of entering the semi-finals provided Australia beat Sri Lanka. However, if England lose, they will be knocked out of the competition.

Sri Lanka pulled off a brilliant 7-wicket victory over England at the Kennington Oval in London on Thursday to get the two points they so desperately needed to stay alive in the competition. Led by Kumar Sangakkara's 134* and a swashbuckling 38-ball 58 from Nuwan Kulasekara, Sri Lanka made easy matter of an other wise stiff target of 293. The win for Sri Lanka places them on the same points as England and opens up Group A nicely as far as qualification for the semi-finals are concerned.

Sri Lanka went into the game against England in a do-or-die situation with only a win for them ensuring they still remain in the competition. Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bowl first. Both England and Sri Lanka made one change to their side. Nuwan Kulasekara came in for all-rounder Thisara Perera for Sri Lanka while off-spinner Graeme Swann came in for England in place of James Tredwell.

Australian opening batsman David Warner has been dropped from Australia's game for New Zealand following a late-night altercation with English batsman Joe Root at a bar in Birmingham. Warner was guilty of an 'unprovoked physical attack' on the English batsman in the early hours of Sunday morning, following Australia's 48 run loss to England.

Warner faces the possibility of further punishment for his actions, including that of being sent back home from the tour. Warner has been reported under Cricket Australia's Code of Behaviour and been cited under Rule 6 of the Code of Behaviour, which states that: "Players and officials must not at any time engage in behaviour unbecoming to a representative player or official that could (a) bring them or the game of game into disrepute or (b) be harmful to the interests of cricket."