South Africa have done it. The Proteas Women walked the talk of playing their best cricket and dumped Australia out of the Women's T20 World Cup with a magnificent win in the semi-finals. Anneke Bosch and captain Laura Wolvaardt led from the front as South Africa cruised through the target of 135 runs with 16 balls to spare. South Africa have made consecutive finals of the Women's T20 World Cup now and would want to get hands on the title as they await their opponent in the final with West Indies taking on New Zealand in the second semi.
While Bosch led the way with an unbeaten 71 off just 48 deliveries, Wolvaardt with a solid 42 didn't let Australians come into the game. The 42 runs helped Wolvaardt become the first South African batter to breach the 500 runs mark in Women's T20 World Cup history. Wolvaardt has 530 runs to her name in the T20 World Cup history and surpassed Smriti Mandhana (524) and Heather Knight (505) on the list.
Having already become South Africa's leading run-getter in women's T20Is in the previous game, Wolvaardt will be eyeing the milestone of 2,000 runs as South Africa chase their maiden T20 World Cup title.
Most runs for South Africa in Women's T20Is
1,955 - Laura Wolvaardt (in 71 innings)
1,896 - Lizelle Lee (in 82 innings)
1,877 - Dane van Niekerk (in 77 innings)
1,805 - Mignon du Preez (in 104 innings)
1,604 - Marizanne Kapp (in 93 innings)
Australia weren't up to the mark and as stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath said, even if they are 'the Aussies' they can't afford a lacklustre performance, especially in a knockout and South Africa outplayed them in all three departments. West Indies will be up against New Zealand in the second semi-final as they look to make their second final while the White Ferns veterans Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates look to break the silverware hoodoo.
