The Laura Wolvaardt-led South Africa women defeated mighty Australia in semi-final 1 to enter the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 final at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Thursday. (Highlights | Full Coverage | More Cricket News)
South Africa women invited Australia to bat first after winning the toss and Ayabonga Khaka dismissed the opener batter Grace Harris early. She is opening the batting since the full-time captain Alyssa Healy got injured while fielding during a league-stage match.
Tahlia McGrath (27 off 33 balls) and Beth Mooney (44 off 42 balls) slowed down the run rate and made runs with a strike rate of around 100. It was Ellyse Perry and Phoebe Litchfield's batting in the death overs which took Australia's total to 134/5 in 20 overs.
In response, Tazmin Brits and Wolvaardt gave a stable start. After the dismissal of Brits, the Proteas women captain added 96 runs for the second wicket with Anneke Bosch who played a brilliant inning of 74 not out off just 48 balls.
Annabel Sutherland was the only wicket-taker for Australia who got both wickets, and the other bowlers kept searching for the rhythm.
South African women are back-to-back finalists of the Women's T20 World Cup. South African men's team was also a finalist in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup which India won in June.
This will be only the second instance in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 when Australian women will not be playing in the final. They have won the title a record six times and featured in the finals seven times.
Women's T20 World Cup Live Streaming
All matches of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 will be aired live on the Star Sports Network in India. The match will be available to live stream on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website in India.
