South Africa’s women became the first senior team from the country to reach an ICC World Cup final as they stunned England in front of a 7,507 strong crowd at Newlands. The Proteas mens’ team have never reached a World Cup final and few would’ve expected the women to achieve that feat after they stumbled through the group stages (losing to Sri Lanka in the opener and also getting thrashed by Australia), but backed by a noisy, partisan home crowd in Cape Town, they upset Group 2 winners England, who had been unbeaten in the tournament coming into this semi-final.
Proteas skipper Sune Luus won the toss and opted to bat first. Openers Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits began cautiously, scoring only 14 runs in the first four overs. However, like in the last game against Bangladesh, they began to accelerate, and reached 67/0 at the half-way stage.
At the end of the 16th over, South Africa were 125/1, but scored only 21 off the next three. However Katherine Brunt’s last over was a poor one, and Marizanne Kapp smashed her for three boundaries as the hosts picked up 18 from it and reached a competitive 164/4 after 20 overs.
In contrast to the Proteas Women, England began well, scoring 53 off the first 5 overs. A double wicket over from Shabnim Ismail, where she accounted for Sophia Dunkley and Alice Capsey (the latter brilliantly caught by Tazmin Brits) brought them back into the game, but Dani Wyatt and Nat Sciver kept the scoreboard ticking, and the visitors were 81/2 after 9 overs.
Nadine de Klerk’s tight bowling in the middle stages helped the Proteas Ladies immensely- she was introduced in the 10th over and finished with stunning figures of 4-0-17-1. More importantly, she also accounted for Sciver in the 17th over, leaving England 28 to get off the final three.
Ayabonga Khaka’s pace off the ball strategy saw her pick up three wickets in the 18th over and while Kapp’s 19th wasn’t as good, Ismail held her nerve in the final one to give the hosts a thrilling six run victory.
