South Africa Women thrashed England to reach their maiden final clash of the T20 World Cup. The Proteas defeated Heather Knight-led team by six runs in the second semifinal at the Newlands, Cape Town on Friday.
South Africa will now face Australia on the 26th of February, Sunday in the summit clash of the tournament.
Opting to bat after winning the toss, South Africa managed to put 164/4 on the board in 20 overs. Their innings were powered by brilliant knocks of the opener Laura Wolvaardt (53) and Tazmin Brits (68). For England, star spinner Sophie Ecclestone took a three-wicket haul.
When it came to England's turn, even though they started on a high note, they could only manage 158/8. Star pacer Ayabonga Khaka (4/29) took four wickets to help the hosts cross the line.
"It was a brilliant game of cricket. We fought really hard at the end to try and take it as close as we did. I guess South Africa with their bowling plans were really good, they had clear and simple plans and bowled straight. This game is one of the finest groups I have ever come up against," England skipper Knight said.
"There is a huge amount of time (for the next World Cup), we are trying to build something nice but sometimes when you are playing against good sides these fine margins happen. We are very clear on how we want to go about our T20 cricket, obviously hasn't come off today, but the future for us going forward, is young players being really aggressive and really attacking and trying to take the game on and trying to entertain, she added.
On the other hand, South Africa captain Sune Luus claimed that their tea has the best bowling attack in the world and shared the team's strategy that led to victory.
"England played well it was a great match. I think we were out of it, in it again, out of it again and it just went in waves but I think we do have the best bowling attack in the world and I guess it was against the best batting attack in the world, I just don't know what to say," she said.
"We kept saying to them (openers) to be brave and back themselves, they made us extremely proud and that gave us the platform for Marizanne and everyone coming in. She (Khaka) is a phenomenal bowler, one of the best in the world and I just think she just showed her class once again. It's massive, every game we play we keep making history and keep inspiring the nation. I hope this is really a turning point for not just women's cricket in South Africa, but sport in general in South Africa, so I hope with one game to go we can keep doing that," she added.
