ICC Women's World Cup: Three key turning points as the England beat South Africa to make final

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • In a match worthy of a final let alone a semi-final, the English eves narrowly overcame the South Africans by two wickets with three deliveries to go on Tuesday.

    England emerged victorious in a fiercely contested ICC Women’s World Cup semi-final played in Bristol to book their berth in the tournament’s finale.

    Winning the toss, the South Africans chose to bat first and would have felt they were around 40 runs short finishing at 218 for the loss of six wickets.

    While England did manage to just cross the finish line, there were many twists and turns along the way.

    Here, we look at the three key turning points in the evenly contested semi-final.

    Double whammy for the Proteas

    The South African batting pair of Laura Wolvaardt and Mignon du Preez had rebuilt the innings nicely after the loss of two early wickets.

    With the score at a healthy 125 for the loss of two wickets at the end of 33 overs, English skipper Heather Knight brought herself on to bowl her slow right-arm off breaks.

    With just her second delivery, Knight clean-bowled the well-set Wolvaardt as she tried to make room to slap a straight delivery through the covers.  The fifth delivery of the over brought further misery for the Green and Yellows when du Preez took off for a sharp single after slapping the ball to the left of Anya Shrubsole at cover.

    Shrubsole was sharp and had no hesitation in throwing to the keeper’s end leaving the diving Marizanne Kaap inches short of safety. The double blow took away all the momentum the South Africans had built.

    Sarah Taylor runs out a diving Marizanne Kaap.

    Sarah Taylor runs out a diving Marizanne Kaap.

    England return the favour

    The English eves were motoring along nicely at 139 for the loss of two wickets at the end of over number 32 with star player Sarah Taylor looking threatening with a well made half century.

    However, disaster struck in the very next over when skipper Knight took off for a single with a push to the left of her opposite counterpart Dane van Niekerk. The Proteas skipper was lethal and affected a brilliant direct hit to run out the well set Taylor with a direct hit.

    The next over was even more eventful when the slow legbreak of Sune Luus bore two huge wickets. Knight swatted an inviting full toss straight into the hands of Wolvaardt at square leg while Natalie Sciver was clean bowled attempting a sweep.

    From a strong position of 139 for the loss of just two wickets at the end of 32 overs, the English were down to 145 for the loss of five wickets at the end of over number 34.

    Wolvaardt pulled off a stunning catch to dismiss Heather Knight.

    Wolvaardt pulled off a stunning catch to dismiss Heather Knight.

    Jenny Gunn takes England over the line

    When Katherine Brunt was bowled by South African pacer Moseline Daniels, England was in a precarious position of 173 runs for the loss of six wickets at the end of 43 overs.

    In walked experienced hand Jenny Gunn who then went on to score an unbeaten 27 runs at run-a-ball to guide the English eves over the finish line despite some last over jitters.

    She formed an invaluable partnership of 40 runs with Fran Wilson before tail-ender Shrubsole hit the winning boundary in the final over to book England’s place in the summit showdown at Lord’s and broke South African hearts in the process.

    Anya Shurbsole celebrates with Jenny Gunn after hitting the winning boundary.

    Anya Shurbsole celebrates with Jenny Gunn after hitting the winning boundary.

    Recommended