South Africa slumped to a 40-run defeat against England in the semi-final of the Women's T20I World Cup on Thursday at The Oval, with England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt inspiring the side to the final of the tournament with a scintillating knock of 75. Meanwhile, the tournament ended in heartbreak for the Proteas, who put their heart and soul into reaching the semi-final after overcoming enormous challenges during the group stage of the tournament. Reflecting on the defeat, South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt said that she was very disappointed.
“I’m very disappointed; It was just not meant to be for us today. We were outplayed today by a really good England side. They played really well," Wolvaardt said after the match.
After being asked to bat, England got good support from captain Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight, who forget a match-winning fourth-wicket partnership of 133 to power the side to a respectable total of 169/5 in 20 overs. South Africa, chasing the target, were restricted to 129/8 in 20 overs, with only Tazmin Brits top-scoring with 51 off 45.
"I think the main difference between our innings and theirs is just that they certainly had more partnerships. They had that really big partnership, and we didn’t have any partnerships to sort of speak of. We’ll have to go back to the drawing board.
Meanwhile, England will now meet Australia in the final on Sunday at Lord's. Australia had made it to the final after blasting West Indies with a thumping eight-wicket victory in semi-final 1.