England's passage to the semi-finals was tainted by some bad blood between captain Andrew Strauss and Graeme Smith.

A little over 48 hours after reprieving Sri Lanka batsman Angelo Mathews, following a collision in a run out, Strauss denied centurion Smith a runner in the day-nighter at Centurion.

South Africa required 69 runs from the final six overs with five wickets in hand when Smith's request - with AB de Villiers padded up and waiting at the boundary edge - was turned down by Strauss and umpires Steve Davis and Tony Hill.

Following the 22-run which sealed passage from Group B, Strauss insisted he did not believe in runners being granted due to poor fitness.

"He asked me for a runner because he was cramping, the umpires were not particularly keen to give him one, and I felt at the end of a long game when you have had a long innings you are going to be tired," said Strauss.

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"That is one of the things that happens and cramping to a certain extent is a preparation thing and to a certain extent a conditioning thing.

"I didn't feel he merited having a runner at that stage. My personal view is you shouldn't get a runner for cramps full stop."

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However, Smith, who crashed 141 before holing out in the 47th over, was left angered by Strauss' decision, just a month shy of England's tour here.

"From my perspective it seemed a little bit inconsistent," said Smith. "Players have got runners for cramp in the past and there needs to be a level of consistency there.

"The thing I have learned from this game is that the world is round and it is going to come back somewhere in his captaincy.

"It will be interesting to see how he handles it if it happens again. It was a crucial part of the game, I had been on the field for 95 overs and had cramped up."

Despite being thrashed 6-1 in the NatWest Series, England have now won their past three matches inside a week.

It's all about numbers

And the misfiring batsmen have been liberated by the change of scene.

Man-of-the-match Owais Shah, who hit 98, and Eoin Morgan hit 11 of the England record 12 sixes in an impressive 323 for eight.

Their sixth-biggest score in 50-over cricket set up the last-four place, something Strauss could not have dreamed of upon arrival.

"I hoped but obviously we were pretty down in confidence after the Australian one-day series," he said.

"One of the things we have tried to do here is go out and try to show people what we can do rather than die wondering and that is what has come out in both games we've played.

"That batting performance on Sunday was the best I can ever remember from England."

James Anderson claimed three more wickets to double his tally for the tournament as South Africa were restricted to 301 for nine and were dumped out.

"It's disappointing to play a knock like that and not get over the line," said Smith. "We wanted to leave ourselves 85-90 off the last 10 with the powerplay included and we were only just off our mark."

The turning point arguably came from the very next ball after Strauss denied Smith his request when stop-gap wicketkeeper Morgan ran out Albie Morkel.

Meanwhile, Strauss' night ended with a 10% match fee fine for England's slow over rate.

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