England captain Paul Collingwood admitted his team gave themselves no chance of victory against South Africa in tonight's World Twenty20 clash following their abject batting display.
The hosts were bundled out for just 111 with the Proteas cruising to their target for the loss of three wickets.
Collingwood told Sky Sports 1: "We didn't get off to a great start and never really got a partnership going to get us up to a total we could defend.
"You will only defend a total like that one in 10 times.
"The wicket was playing well and you would need everything going in your favour to defend that total."
England have had mixed fortunes in the tournament so far, losing their opener to Holland before bouncing back with a comfortable win against Pakistan which enabled them to qualify for the Super Eights.
And Durham all-rounder Collingwood accepts his team must improve when they meet India at Lord's on Sunday.
"It has been a roller-coaster ride so far," he added.
"We need to go out there (against India) and get our confidence going.
"We are in a tough group but we believe we have the guys who can win in this competition. We will try to get the belief going again over the next couple of days."
South Africa skipper Graeme Smith was delighted with his side's all-round effort.
He said: "The intensity we created in the field was great and then we clinically finished the game off.
Smith also had words of praise for 19-year-old fast bowler Wayne Parnell, who took three for 14 from 3.5 overs.
"He is handling himself very well. He is composed, it was a cauldron to be playing England over here but he handled it very well," said Smith.