England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt led from the front on her comeback from injury with a brilliant 75 in a 40-run Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final hammering of South Africa at the Oval on Thursday.
Fears of another knockout loss in a major event were raised when England, sent in to bat, were reduced to 23-3 in just four overs. To the excitement of more than 21,000 spectators, Sciver-Brunt, who had missed the previous three group games due to a calf injury, counterattacked.
She had outstanding support from former captain Heather Knight (58), as the two survivors from the last England squad to win a major international trophy—the 2017 50-over World Cup—turned the tide with a fourth-wicket partnership of 133 that carried their team to a total of 169-5.
Hosts England will take on arch-rivals Australia in Sunday’s Women’s T20 World Cup final at Lord’s, with both teams entering the title clash unbeaten after winning all six of their matches.
Chasing a daunting target of 170, South Africa never seriously threatened and eventually finished on 129/8, falling well short.
“I was probably nervous, the occasion gets quite big as well and so that increased the nerves. I missed a few games (with my injury). There was a lot of emotion pre-game,” AFP quoted Sciver-Brunt, the player of the match, as saying at the post-match presentation ceremony.
She added: “Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail are world-class opening bowlers who can do some damage. So Heather and I wanted to nullify the threat and make sure we were in and able to capitalise on other bowlers. We used our experience, got out heads together and got the job done. We showed composure. We could have tried to go harder earlier and it might not have worked out, so we were really smart.”
Kapp was South Africa’s most economical bowler, returning figures of 1/16 from her full quota of four overs, while Ismail claimed 2/31. However, the seven wicketless overs bowled by Ayabonga Khaka and Nadine de Klerk proved costly, conceding 79 runs between them.
Admitting her side had been “outplayed”, South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt said: “We were happy with 170, which we thought was par. They bowled well, had good plans and we weren’t able to step up.”
Earlier, South Africa had a fantastic start, capturing three England wickets in the opening four overs. Amy Jones cut straight to point, and fast bowler Ismail struck with her first ball.
England opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge, whose previous five innings had provided a tournament record 282 runs at a spectacular average of 94, was bowled for just 12 by Kapp’s well-disguised slower ball. When Alice Capsey fell LBW to Ismail, England were three down.
However, the innings was revived by Sciver-Brunt and Knight, the captain of England who won the 2017 World Cup. Sciver Brunt, 33, hit De Klerk through midwicket for her ninth four in 35 balls faced on her home ground in Surrey, completing a magnificent fifty.
Knight, 35, reached a 42-ball fifty after slog-sweeping Khaka for a massive six. Sciver-Brunt also cleared the ropes when she lifted de Klerk over midwicket. Left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba dismissed both Sciver-Brunt and Knight in the penultimate over (2-25), but the damage was already done.
A leaping Sophie Ecclestone caught captain Wolvaardt for 17 off spinner Linsey Smith at mid-on, severely hurting South Africa’s chase. Annerie Dercksen cut a slower ball from Freya Kemp to point, easily turning the Proteas’ 43-1 lead into 49-2.
England then secured the vital wicket of Kapp for just five when the all-rounder, trying to turn off-spinner Charlie Dean legside, received a leading edge and gave a nice catch to an overjoyed Sciver-Brunt at extra-cover. South Africa opener Tazmin Brits struck fifty at better than a run-a-ball before she fell to Dean.
South Africa, who had beaten England in the semi-finals of both the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup and last year’s Women’s ODI World Cup, were staring at defeat once they slipped to 95/5.
Earlier, six-time champions Australia had cruised into the final with a commanding eight-wicket victory over the West Indies in Tuesday’s first semi-final at The Oval.
