SA W vs ENG W | Twitter in awe as Wolvaardt and Kapp power South Africa into final of ODI World Cup

‌South Africa Women stormed into their maiden final of the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup with a 125-run win over England in Guwahati on Wednesday. Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp were the architects of the Proteas’ big win, with the former scoring a big hundred, her first in the ODI World Cup, while the latter picked up a five-wicket haul after an entertaining cameo with the bat.

After being put into bat at the Assam Cricket Association, the Proteas had an excellent start with Laura Wolvaardt hitting two fours off Lauren Bell in the first two balls of the game. She targeted left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, hitting back-to-back boundaries in her third over. Meanwhile, her partner Tazmin Brits took her time to get going as the Proteas ended the 10-over powerplay mark at 58/0. Skipper Wolvaardt brought up her 50 in 52 balls in the 17th over before targeting off-spinner Charlie Dean with consecutive boundaries in the next over. At the other end, Brits also showed signs of aggression with the first six of the game off Sophie Ecclestone before being dismissed by the same bowler in her next. After breaking the 116-run stand, the left-arm spinner picked another wicket in the same over before skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt added one more as the batting side slid to 119/3. But that did not perturb Marizanne Kapp as she got off the mark with a boundary in her very first ball. The veteran all-rounder looked aggressive, hitting four fours and a six during her 33-ball 42, but Ecclestone turned partnership-breaker again to tempt her into miscuing a big hit. It was a deja vu moment as Kapp’s wicket triggered yet another collapse as wicketkeeper-batter Sinalo Jafta departed in the next over. However, Wolvaardt continued to keep the scoreboard ticking, bringing up her 10th hundred in ODIs, off 115 balls, in the 40th over. Another wicket in the next over saw South Africa being reduced to 202/6, forcing the Proteas skipper to shift gears. She smashed two sixes and two fours in her counterpart Nat Sciver-Brunt’s over and also got two fours off Charlie Dean in between. The opener brought up her 150 in style with a six of Smith before plundering three more boundaries in a 20-run over. She took just 21 balls to move from 100 to 150, with her marathon knock finally coming to an end in the last ball of the 48th over. The South Africa skipper smashed 20 fours and four sixes during her 143-ball 169 before Chloe Tryon (33*) and Nadine de Klerk’s (11*) cameos carried the side to an intimidating 319/7 in 50 overs. Ecclestone finished with impressive figures of 4/44, while Bell chipped in with two wickets.

England’s chase got off to the worst possible start with Amy Jones and Heather Knight falling prey to Kapp in the first over. With Tammy Beaumont dismissed for a first-ball duck by Ayabonga Khaka in the next over, England slipped to 3/1, the first time that their top three batters got out for ducks in Women’s ODIs. However, Sciver-Brunt and Alice Capsey ensured that no further damage was done, taking England to 34/3 at the end of the powerplay. Both batters brought up their fifties in the 23rd over with Capsey taking 70 balls to get to her maiden half-century. Meanwhile, the England skipper got to the milestone in 59 balls, with a six off Sune Luus. But the spinner broke the 105-run partnership for the fourth wicket, with Capsey hitting straight to de Klerk at mid-off. Though Capsey departed for a 71-ball 50, a knock which included six fours, Sciver-Brunt still looked dangerous, forcing Wolvaardt to reintroduce her strike bowler Kapp. And the move worked wonders as the medium pacer struck in her second over of the new spell to induce an edge from the England skipper, who hit six fours and a six before walking back for 64 off 76. That opened up the floodgates as Kapp picked up two more wickets in the next over to complete her second five-wicket haul in ODIs. Though Dani Wyatt-Hodge and Linsey Smith delayed the proceedings a bit further, they could not stop the inevitable as England folded out for 194 with more than seven overs remaining. Kapp was the pick among the Proteas bowlers with a spell of 5/20 in seven overs.