South Africa is a aspect powered by emotion. Introduced again to a venue the place it had been humiliated by the identical opponent — England — by being bundled out for 69, the Proteas roared their solution to redemption.
A 125-run victory within the first semifinal on the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday powered the aspect to its first remaining within the 50-over showpiece.
Needing to tug off its highest chase within the format (the earlier mark being 264 towards Australia within the Ashes), England bought off to probably the most horrifying of begins, shedding its first three wickets for only one run, with Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka sharing the spoils.
AS IT HAPPENED | England vs South Africa highlights
However England skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt isn’t any stranger to SOS calls. Left to handhold a Herculean pursuit, she took on a largely odd Protean assault, blunted by an detached wicket, from the phrase go. She stitched a brisk 107-run stand with Alice Capsey to depart the South Africans feeling the warmth.
A cramping Kapp persevered, sending Capsey, Sciver-Brunt, and Sophia Dunkley again to finish a fifer, very similar to she did towards the identical opponent in a league stage win within the 2022 version. Danni Wyatt-Hodge, enjoying simply her second match of the match, and Linsey Smith resisted however in useless. The color pale from the faces of the four-time champions because the dugout silently watched the curtains fall on their marketing campaign.
Wolvaardt masterclass
Requested to bat first, a proposition that has not gone effectively for the aspect within the match to this point, the strain was on Laura Wolvaardt to fabricate some magic. The suppose tank even swapped out pacer Masabata Klaas for Anneke Bosch, an extra batter, to benefit from what the strip, referred to as a ‘Mumbai wicket’ by the curator, needed to supply.
Wolvaardt persevered and introduced up a scintillating maiden ODI World Cup ton.
| Picture Credit score:
RITU RAJ KONWAR
Wolvaardt persevered and introduced up a scintillating maiden ODI World Cup ton.
| Picture Credit score:
RITU RAJ KONWAR
Wolvaardt delivered, and the way! Her imperious 169 off 143 balls echoed the ebbs and flows of the aspect’s collective nervous system. She whipped out her trademark cowl drive off the very first ball and made her intentions clear.
A brittle Tazmin Brits on the different finish drew her again at times to train warning, however Wolvaardt was fast to punish dangerous balls and use a nagging vast line by the English to her benefit. Brits stored attempting the awkward reverse sweep, however every time, it was unsuccessful. It could show to be her undoing, as she deployed it towards Sophie Ecclestone solely to be nutmegged.
Ecclestone, bowling with some seen ache in her bowling shoulder after sustaining an harm to a joint close to her collar bone, barely skilled forward of the sport, however stepped up when England wanted her most, eradicating Bosch for a duck a couple of deliveries later. Sciver-Brunt then packed up Sune Luus, with simply three runs scored within the meantime.
England’s Sophie Ecclestone took 4 wickets towards South Africa.
| Picture Credit score:
RITU RAJ KONWAR
England’s Sophie Ecclestone took 4 wickets towards South Africa.
| Picture Credit score:
RITU RAJ KONWAR
The skilled Marizanne Kapp and Wolvaardt, nevertheless, stitched an important 72-run stand to regular the ship. However sensible subject placements by Sciver-Brunt enticed Kapp to go large, just for her to fall to Ecclestone.
The Proteas have struggled with excessive dot ball percentages all through the match, and this recreation was no exception; 110 of the primary 180 balls yielded no runs. Sinalo Jafta and Annerie Dercksen didn’t assist that file, discovering it exhausting to realize any momentum. Wolvaardt persevered and introduced up a scintillating maiden ODI World Cup ton.
With 202 on the board in 40 overs, one thing modified in Wolvaardt’s biochemistry as she ruthlessly hunted England’s bowlers one after the other. South Africa added 117 runs within the remaining 10, 68 of them coming from Wolvaardt’s bat.
Schoolkids, a part of the anthem ceremony earlier, who had resorted to video video games on their mobiles through the slog within the center overs, swapped video games for the digital camera app, desperate to seize each boundary flying off her bat. When she finally fell within the forty eighth over, she was swarmed by her opponents, coming over to pat her again for a job effectively completed, whereas an ovation and loads of hugs awaited her within the dugout, as Tryon and Nadine de Klerk carried South Africa to what can be an insurmountable rating.
Printed on Oct 29, 2025