ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026
England leave South Africa with uncomfortable questions
Telford Vice
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026
England leave South Africa with uncomfortable questions
byTelford Vice•
Having survived several close calls to reach the last four, South Africa finally ran into an England side that gave them no route back into the contest© Getty
Having survived several close calls to reach the last four, South Africa finally ran into an England side that gave them no route back into the contest©Getty
If there were a postcard doing the rounds in South Africa on Thursday night, it might have read something like this:
Dear England, that was a hell of a game of cricket you played at the Oval on Thursday. Good luck for Lord’s on Sunday, because the only team we’d rather see lose than you is Australia. Regards, South Africa
Or some such. It’s difficult to speak on behalf of all cricketminded South Africans, but that’s a reasonable summation of what many of them might say to the victors of the T20 World Cup semifinal. What they might say to each other is starkly different
England’s win was about as predictable as rain at Wimbledon. Nat Sciver-Brunt’s team powered to a 40-run victory to reach Sunday’s final against Australia at Lord’s. As they should have. England were unbeaten going into Thursday’s match. They had never looked like losing any of their five group games. South Africa lost only once – to the Aussies – but seemed about to slip to defeat in several matches
Still, Thursday’s result stings in South Africa because it means this is the first time in four women’s World Cups across both formats that the Proteas will not be in the final. This tournament is a significant backward step for a team who have gone forward resolutely from February 2023, when they made it to the T20 World Cup decider against Australia
They lost all three of those finals, but their public was patient. You can’t win a trophy without getting to the last match, after all. But getting there a hattrick of times created expectation and anticipation that this team were on the verge of great things. They had to go all the way one day, surely. Maybe not: the meteorologists say rain might not fall on the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club during this year’s tournament
South Africa’s failure on Thursday isn’t difficult to explain. They were in control when they reduced England to 23/3 in the first 20 deliveries of the match, with Danni Wyatt-Hodge, the tournament’s leading batter, among the dismissed. But the home side fought back with a stand of 133 off 90 by Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight. Despite their side teetering on the edge of catastrophe, they took the fight to the bowlers with breathtakingly aggressive batting
Not that the South Africans helped their own cause. Essentially, they didn’t make the most of their best rene Kapp was bowled out seven overs into the innings, and Shabnim Ismail didn’t bowl her last over between the sixth and the 16th. Even so, England’s 169/5 was far from untameable. But the South Africans never recovered from England’s recovery
Laura Wolvaardt chipped Linsey Smith to mid-on in the sixth, which meant she went through a World Cup without scoring 50 for only the second time in her eight global tournaments and for the first time since the 2018 T20 version. Tazmin Brits laboured to 51 off 45. No-one else scored more than Wolvaardt’s 17. The South Africans hit the ball hard enough, but the English had fielders in all the right places at all the right times
Now what? Mandla Mashimbyi will return home to questions about why he kept faith in established but underperforming players when he also had talents like Kayla Reyneke, Tumi Sekhukhune and Karabo Meso in his squad. Of them only Reyneke played, and only twice
Mashimbyi’s reasonable defence might be that his team lost just once before Thursday. He will know better than to point out that Reyneke, prodigiously gifted though she is, scored nought and two. But he might struggle to argue effectively why Sune Luus was brought back for the semi when she had made one and five in her other innings
Could it be that not reaching the final is a blessing in disguise? Australia, who like England are unbeaten in the tournament, look unassailable. And a fourth consecutive fall at the last hurdle would have been crushing for the players and their supporters alike
That’s a question for another day, once the sting has faded. For now, South Africans will keep calm and carry on watching the Springboks. And wish there was a way both England and Australia could lose on Sunday
© Cricbuzz
South Africa Women
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