Jacqueline Williams (West Indies), Nimali Perera (Sri Lanka), Anna Harris (England, TV)
Referee
Michell Pereira (Sri Lanka)
Toss
South Africa Women elected to bowl
Pitch Report
It has cooled down since we started this competition. 57m on one side, 63m on the other. 73m is the big straight. More runs on this pitch as compared to others. The color is lighter and the grass cover isn't as much. There has been 1.9 degrees of swing here as compared to 1.5 at Sharjah. So swing is going to be key. Variations will be the key for the spinners. Early wickets would be extremely important as would be using the swing. Mlaba would crucial for South Africa.
VENUE STATS
1st Innings
113Avg Runs
6Avg Wkts
94.49Avg
SR
2nd Innings
95Avg Runs
5Avg Wkts
98.26Avg
SR
Weather Update
Weather Update
Dubai,United Arab Emirates
Updated: 17 Oct 22:00
31.3°CClear
clear sky
0%
Clouds
0%
Rain %
65%
Humidity
8.7 kmph
Wind
Playing XILineups Out
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Venue Details
Dubai International Cricket Stadium
It has cooled down since we started this competition. 57m on one side, 63m on the other. 73m is the big straight. More runs on this pitch as compared to others. The color is lighter and the grass cover isn't as much. There has been 1.9 degrees of swing here as compared to 1.5 at Sharjah. So swing is going to be key. Variations will be the key for the spinners. Early wickets would be extremely important as would be using the swing. Mlaba would crucial for South Africa.
The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
What an achievement this has been from South Africa. They have rewritten the history books and have ensured that Australia hasn't qualified for a T20 World Cup final in fifteen years. There has been eight editions so far and Australia have played in seven of those finals. This is the first time since the inaugural edition in 2009 that they miss out on a final berth but take nothing away from South Africa. They had the belief and the manifestation of Paul Adams and the rest of the team members have helped them secure a win which looked highly improbable. It will be West Indies and New Zealand who will fight it out in the second semi-final tomorrow. Who will South Africa meet in the final? Do join us tomorrow again to get your answer but for now, this is myself (Arya Sekhar Chakraborty) biding adieu also on behalf of my fellow commentator and good friend Rudransh Khurrana. Goodnight! Cheers!
Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa captain): Yeah I think this win is right up there. One of the best wins in my cricketing career. Anneke batted exceptionally well and so did the bowlers. I think it's been a good year for us. It's been a collective good effort. Looking at ways finding the weakness and glad some of the plans worked tonight. Yeah I think we didn't have the best two overs. Me and Tazmin had a chat that we need to get ahead of the game and then Anneke took it forward and played a blinder. One of the best of Anneke's career and what a time to bring it up. Both West Indies and New Zealand are destructive. West Indies a bit more now but you can't take any team lightly. Good crowd in Dubai.
Tahlia McGrath (Australia captain): Pretty hard to take. We didn't really show up today and we couldn't do this in a World tournament like this. South Africa thoroughly outplayed us. We worked really hard in the off season. Left no stones unturned but unfortunately didn't show up on the night. Yeah we found it quite tricky. South Africa bowled brilliantly. Halfway mark we felt 140-150 would be par. South Africa made it look a totally different wicket. They batted brilliantly. We were trying to keep it single on that wicket. We weren't at our best. We thought a couple of wickets would change it but we never managed to get that. Sutherland leads from the front. The future is certainly bright for us. We have a big summer to finish off.
Anneke Bosch is your Player of the Match for her 74* (48), here's what she has to say: My heart is racing a lot. It was pretty hard out there. But glad we could get over the line. It was about sticking to the basics, not overthinking it and playing according to the situation without trying too much. The speeches before the game help and give us focus. It helps stay in the present. It means a lot, can't really describe it. We knew we were capable of it. Our batters up top and the bowlers too have been wonderful. Holding Australia to under 140 was excellent. Glad I could hold onto the catch. I dropped a similar one in an earlier game. Thanks a lot for their support. We can feel it even when they are not there. Reminds us of the last World Cup when they were there, we want to do it for them.
AUSTRALIA WON'T BE IN A T20 WORLD CUP FINAL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 15 YEARS! THAT'S WHAT THE PROTEAS HAVE ACHIEVED TODAY.
South Africa Women won by 8 wickets (with 16 deliveries to spare)
South Africa Women scripted history as they won their first T20 World Cup game against the mighty Aussies to knock them out of the Women’s T20 World Cup. It was a clinical run chase and the partnership between Anneke Bosch and Laura Wolvaardt put the game to bed as they ended up winning by 8 wickets with 16 deliveries to spare. South Africa got the belief of beating Australia after winning their first game against them earlier in this year.
The run chase of 135 could have turned out to be tricky and with only four runs coming off the first two overs, it looked like Australia would squeeze them in the powerplay. Tazmin Brits ate up most of the deliveries in the first over. It was the third over from Megan Schutt which got South Africa back on track. 12 runs came from that over to ease the nerves. Brits also struck a six before perishing at the hands of Annabel Sutherland.
It was a quick delivery which skidded through the surface and rattled the off-stump. Out came Anneke Bosch and her approach totally took Australia off guard. The intent was pretty clear as she started finding the boundaries on a consistent basis. Wolvaardt also went along at a good rate as South Africa racked up 43 in the powerplay. It was their dominant approach post-powerplay which made all the difference.
Wolvaardt took Darcie Brown apart in the 7th over and there was no looking back from there. Bosch started attacking every Australian bowler and boundaries started to flow one after the other. The partnership just went on and on and it was Bosch in particular who put the game to bed with arguably the greatest knock of the competition. Especially under pressure, she came out all guns blazing and turned the game on its head.
You would hardly see Laura Wolvaardt playing second fiddle but such was the dominance of Bosch, Wolvaardt was happy to play under her shadow. The carnage finally came to an end after a match-winning 96-run partnership when Wolvaardt clofted a good length delivery from Annabel Sutherland straight to the mid-off fielder.
Bosch kept going on in her merry way and eventually remained unbeaten on 74 off 48 deliveries to take her side over the finish line with 15 deliveries to spare. For not a single moment in the run chase barring the first two overs, it looked like South Africa would lose the game. Sheer dominance and have absolutely bossed the game all the way through and are the deserved winners.
17.2 Megan Schutt to Anneke Bosch, FOURRRR! BOSCH DOES IT FOR SOUTH AFRICA! She's the magnificent author of this magnificent history. She has helped South Africa thump Australia by eight wickets -- for the first time ever in their women's T20 World Cup history. For the first time since 2020, Australia take the L over the W! South Africa are in the final and no one, absolutely no one deserves it more!
About the moment: full toss on middle and leg, pulled to deep mid-wicket with ferocious pace. She has been tired but she has wanted it so much. South Africa are jumping in joy in the pavilion. There are hugs and tears from Mlaba and a lot more group hugs. Brilliant pictures. This is what it's all about.
17.1 Megan Schutt to Anneke Bosch, good length ball targeting off, cut away to point
Megan Schutt [3-0-21-0] is back into the attack.
A very important boundary for South Africa in that over with Bosch finding the gap past the mid off fielder. They are almost through and what an achievement this will be. Just 4 runs required off 18 deliveries. This could well be the final over of the run chase.