England secured their place in the Women's T20 World Cup final with a dominant 40-run victory against South Africa at The Oval on Thursday and set up a blockbuster title clash against defending champions Australia at Lord's.
As soon as England was ordered to bat first, they suffered a nightmare start as they fell to 23 for 3 in the powerplay. But experienced campaigners Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight were able to unite to form a 133-run partnership within 90 deliveries, the highest partnership for England in a Women’s T20 World Cup knockout match.
Sciver-Brunt anchored the recovery with a composed innings, while Knight played the aggressor as England posted a challenging total of 169/5.
Sciver-Brunt said the team had accepted the pressure after the match.
“I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to do today. We’ve got ourselves set up with an amazing opportunity to be in a home World Cup final -- you don’t get that many times in your career. I think we’ve got what it takes.”
South Africa started their chase positively as Laura Wolvaardt looked fluent in the opening overs. But England struck a blow in the sixth over when Sophie Ecclestone took a stunning one-handed catch at mid-on to dismiss the South African captain.
Ecclestone did it again later in the innings with another excellent catch to remove Suné Luus, underlining England's sharp improvement in fielding, a department that had drawn criticism in previous tournaments.
South Africa still had hopes in Tazmin Brits, who made a half-century, and Marizanne Kapp, who had captained the team in previous games. But both batters fell in similar fashion, mistiming lofted shots to Nat Sciver-Brunt at extra cover off the bowling of Charlie Dean.
As South Africa slipped to 95/5, England consolidated their hold on the game with disciplined bowling and energetic fielding, so there was no late comeback. The innings was 40 runs short of the target as England won the match in front of more than 21,000 fans at The Oval.
The victory also came against the same South African side that had knocked England out in the semi-finals of the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup. England has since then been so concerned with pressure situations and even participated in a leadership course with the British Army at Sandhurst earlier this year.
This time, the hosts did a good job of responding to their early batting collapse, and Sciver-Brunt and Knight were there to deliver when it counted the most.
England will now face Australia in the Women’s T20 World Cup final at Lord’s on Sunday, to chase their first world title for the T20 World Cup since 2009 and their first final since 2018. The match could even be the match of the all time best women’s cricket teams.
