South Africa registered a historic win over Australia in the first semi-final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. The Proteas denied the Aussies their eighth consecutive Women’s T20 World Cup final appearance by winning the match by 8 wickets.
Anneke Bosch was the hero for South Africa in this game as she scored an unbeaten 74 off just 48 deliveries and saw her side over the line in this historic win. Winning the toss, South Africa invited Australia to bat first. The bowlers were on point from the start and never allowed the Aussie batters to get going and play their shots.
Beth Mooney scored 44 runs in 42 deliveries. Tahlia McGrath 27(33) also failed to get going. Ellyse Perry’s 31 (23) late hitting alongside Phoebe Litchfield 16*(9) helped the Aussies reach 134/5 in their 20 overs. Ayabonga Khaka picked up 2 wickets with Marizanne Kapp and Nonkululeko Mlaba picking up one wicket each.
Chasing 135 runs, Tazmin Brits and skipper Laurava Wolvaardt played some good shots in the first four overs. Brits was bowled by Annabel Sutherland for 15 with 110 runs still required in 16 overs.
Anneke Bosch creates history for South Africa, ends Australia’s dominance
Bosch came to bat at 3 and batted positively from the start. She stitched a match-winning partnership of 96 runs alongside skipper Laura Wolvaardt. She never allowed the Aussies to take control and fittingly hit the winning runs to help her side qualify for their second consecutive final in the Women’s T20 World Cup.
South Africa had their revenge as Australia defeated them by 19 runs in the final of the last Women’s T20 World Cup. This was South Africa’s first victory against Australia in Women’s T20 World Cup history in 8 matches. This will be the first time in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup history that Australia will not be playing in the finals of the tournament.
In 7 editions of the tournament, the Aussies have dominated everyone by playing the final of all seven editions. They have 6 titles to their name and one defeat back in 2016 against the West Indies.
The second semi-final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 will be played between West Indies and New Zealand at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah. The match will be played on 18th October at 7:30 PM IST.