South Africa’s Women’s T20 Cricket team didn’t just hurdle Australia in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup to qualify for the final, but they pole-vaulted the defending champions by beating them by eight wickets in Dubai on Thursday.
The Proteas now advance to Sunday’s T20 World Cup final between either West Indies or New Zealand who clash in the second semi-final on Friday.
It was the first time that South Africa managed to beat Australia in a T20 match at a World Cup. The two sides faced each other nine times with the Aussies on the winning side on eight occasions.
CONGRATULATIONS to the Proteas Women – through to the FINAL! 🏆⚡️🏏🇿🇦
What a brilliant performance, taking down Australia by 8 wickets in the #T20WorldCup semi-final! #TeamSA #ForMyCountry pic.twitter.com/6YsS5o5spz
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) October 17, 2024
Player of the Match, Anneke Bosch, was the star of the show with a brilliant unbeaten 74 runs.
Bosch, whose knock was also the highest score thus far in the tournament and her captain Laura Wolvaardt’s partnership was instrumental in the Proteas run chase.
Wolvaardt sent the Aussies in to bat who struggled to 134-5 in their innings. The Proteas bowlers put in a disciplined performance, while the batters showed great composure comfortably reaching 135-1 with 15 balls to spare.
“Yes, my heart is racing a lot because it was quite tough out there. I am just glad that I could finally contribute a bit of runs to the team,” an elated Bosch said immediately after the game.
“Our batters and also our bowlers did extremely well. We would also like to thank all all our the supporters here and at home.”
🏅Player Of The Match – Anneke Bosch, delivered a stunning 74* off 48 balls in the #T20WorldCup semi-final, leading the Proteas Women to the final! 🏆🌍🏏
Her brilliance under pressure secured our spot in the championship match. 💪🇿🇦
What we experienced this evening is a work… pic.twitter.com/M7Tv61CaeN— Proteas Women (@ProteasWomenCSA) October 17, 2024
A proud Wolfaardt described the victory as the best of her career thus far.
“Yes, I think it (the win) is right up there. It’s one of the best wins of my cricketing career for sure. A couple of the other girls said that as well. Anneke batted excellently as well as the bowlers. It been a good year for us and it’s been a real collective group effort.
“After losing against them (Australia) so many times, we spent a bit of time analysing them a bit more than other teams. I’m glad that some of the plans worked for us today.”
Looking towards Sunday’s final Wolvaardt admitted that she didn’t have any preference about who of the West Indies or New Zealand they would like to face in the final.
“I really don’t know. I think both those sides have the ability to be destructive on the day.The West Indies look very dangerous at the moment, but you can never count out New Zealand,” warned Wolvaardt.
Oh my soul!!
Such a dominant run chase
Huge intent and no fear right from the beginningSo so proud of our @ProteasWomenCSA team
Congrats ladies… 1 more to go 🙏🇿🇦
— Tabraiz Shamsi (@shamsi90) October 17, 2024
Scores in brief:
AUS 134-5 in 20 (Mooney 44, Perry 31, Khaka 2/24, Kapp 1/24)
SA 135-2 in 17.2 (Bosch 74*, Wolvaardt 42, Sutherland 2/26)
Result: South Africa won by eight wickets
