By Mercy Kosgei
After seven defeats, South Africa managed to beat Australia at the Women’s T20 World Cup. The six- time defending champions will miss out on fourth straight T20 World Cup title. South Africa pulled off a stunning Women’s T20 World Cup upset, ruthlessly knocking out defending champions, Australia to reach Sunday’s finals where they will face either New Zealand or West Indies.
South Africa started the chase confidently with a powerplay of 43-1 ahead of Australia’s 35-2 at the same stage before Tazmin Brits departure for 15 opened the door for the phenomenal match-winning partnership.
South Africa had lost all the previous matches against Australia including 2023 finals that were held in Cape Town. Anneke Bosch stunned with 74 from 48 balls while skipper Laura Wolvaardt hit 42 off 37. They raced to 135 with 16 balls securing a showdown with either New Zealand or West Indies whom they will play in the same field.
Australia’s Injured captain Alyssa Healy, may have given South Africa a limelight to beat her team. Australia scored 134-5 from 20 0vers with Beth Mooney with 44 off 42 balls, Ellyse Perry 31 off 23 and Ayabonga Khaka 2-24. Beth Mooney top scored becoming the fastest player to 3,000 T20 international runs reaching a milestone in her 100th innings.
Both Bosch and Wolvaardt drummed with 96 from 65 deliveries for the second wicket to ensure the defending champions do not feature in the 2024 finals. South Africa managed 135-2 in 17.2 overs with Anneke Bosch 74no off 48. Laura Wolvaardt 42 off 37 and Annabel Sutherland 2-26.
Player of the match Anneke Bosch wrapped up an emphatic victory by hauling Megan Schutt to the midwicket boundary two balls into the 18th over. On the press conference after the match, Bosch said,” It was quite tough out there but I’m really glad we could get over the line and that I could finally contribute some runs. We knew we were capable and we had a pretty good tournament into this game and were quite confident.”
Australia’s stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath commented on the post-match interview,” It’s pretty hard to take. We didn’t show up tonight, you can’t afford to do that in tournaments like this. Credit to South Africa.”
