Key events
Australia post 172-8
If South Africa win this they’ll need to set a new record for a chase in a T20 World Cup.
Such an odd innings. I always felt like Australia were behind the eight ball and yet they’ve gone and posted something pretty hefty.
Despite the regular loss of wickets, Litchfield’s 24-ball 50 and cameos from Perry (36 off 26), Wareham (32 off 22) and Sutherland (21 off 14) kept things ticking.
This final over from De Klerk – who signs off with 2-35 – bagged a wicket but also cost 10 runs, including a well-placed boundary from Carey through a small gap past midwicket.
Is it enough? We’ll find out after a break.
Sune Luus drops a sitter!
She should have held on down at wide long-on, but more crucially she is off the field straight away.
The opening batter requires some medical attention to a finger. How will that impact the chase?
WICKET! King lbw De Klerk 4 (Australia 167-8)
That is plumb! King reviews though I don’t know why. Unless she thought she hit it? It’s struck her on the back foot, right in front of the stumps. A full ball from De Klerk beats her swishing bat across the line and that is as out as out can be.
19th over: Australia 162-7 (Carey 8, King 4) Mlaba closes out with a very tidy 2-22 from her four overs without conceding a boundary. Her final over cost just seven runs. If South Africa chase down their target they’ll thank their leading spinner.
WICKET! Sutherland c De Klerk b Khaka 21 (Australia 155-7)
Khaka wins the battle! After getting walloped for a mighty six down the ground by Sutherland, Khaka holds her nerve. This final ball of the 18th is a little wider and a little fuller which means Sutherland has to reach it and can’t get under it. She makes great contact, but can’t clear De Klerk at mid-off. That’s a sharp catch even though it was straight at her.
18th over: Australia 155-7 (Carey 5)
17th over: Australia 147-6 (Sutherland 14, Carey 4) Ten runs off that over, including four for Sutherland as she clubbed a De Klerk bouncer behind square. It was a strange delivery from De Klerk because when she kept it full she proved difficult to hit.
Ismail has left the field with a knock to her finger. She’ll hope she won’t be needed with the bat.
16th over: Australia 137-6 (Sutherland 6, Carey 2) Mlaba bags the big wicket and concedes just six runs. Australia are still hurtling at more than eight an over despite the regular loss of wickets. So hard to say what a good score would be from here. Mlaba has one more left. That over might be the difference in this game.
WICKET! Perry b Mlaba 36 (Australia 133-6)
Played on! Perry might be the greatest cricketer of all time (IMO) but she was made to look ordinary there. A very, very slow ball from Mlaba is flighted up around a fifth stump line. Perry goes searching for it and loses her shape as she takes an ugly swiper away from her body. All she can do is find an under edge and drag it back onto her stumps. Great bowling from the South African spinner.
15th over: Australia 131-5 (Perry 36, Sutherland 4) Marizanne Kapp to Elysse Perry. Two of the all-time greats going head to head. This round goes to the Aussie who pulls a full toss up and over for four. She didn’t crunch it, but got enough bat on it to take it to the rope. A plinked drive down the ground is very straight so she can come back for two. A well-placed yorker is respected by Perry who just clips it for a single down to deep midwicket. Sutherland closes out Kapp’s spell with a steer for two in front of deep extra cover. Kapp’s figures read 1-28 from her four overs.
14th over: Australia 121-5 (Perry 28, Sutherland 1) A much-needed breakthrough for South Africa as Wareham was getting going. Two boundaries, one lashed through cover and the other scooped down to fine leg, was a sign of how well she was seeing it. She then hammered a drive but couldn’t beat the diving Wolvaardt who plucked a stunner. Sutherland was given out first ball, but survived the review. De Klerk’s part-timers have been more than handy.
She survives! The big noise came after the ball had passed her bat. That was willow on hard pitch, not willow on ball. Sutherland survives the review.
The finger goes up for caught behind! Sutherland reviews. Has she hit the ground or has she edged her first ball?
WICKET! Wareham c Wolvaardt b De Klerk 32 (Australia 120-5)
That’s a stunner from the skipper! South Africa really needed that. Wareham smoked this drive into the covers and it was past Wolvaardt when she stuck out both hands and managed to cling on. That’s her third catch of the innings and her best by a distance. Wareham was just started to climb through the gears having struck two consecutive fours. But she has to go for a handy knock off 22 balls.
13th over: Australia 112-4 (Perry 28, Wareham 24) Tryon is back and getting the same treatment as earlier. Perry whips a four past midwicket and then Wareham reverse hoiks – not off the front foot, not quite off the back – up and over the fielder at short third. A dozen runs added from that set. Tryon’s two have cost 20. This partnership is now worth 50 off just 34 balls.
12th over: Australia 100-4 (Perry 22, Wareham 18) Perry is just class. She’s handed a gimme by Khaka who sprays one down leg and the ball is rightly helped along for a boundary. Her second four is a beauty, off the back foot and punched down to long-on. That is a heck of a shot. Wareham caps the over with a mighty pull that races over the rope in front of square to bring up the 100.
11th over: Australia 85-4 (Perry 12, Wareham 13) Wolvaardt is ringing the changes. After Tryon’s poor over she is replaced by De Klerk. Tryon is not having a good day. She spilled a chance in the deep after Perry’s pull shot held up in the breeze. She had to dive forward for it, but the mistake was in the judgment of the ball’s flight. Otherwise it was a tidy over from the change bowler. That spill cost two runs but the whole over was only worth six. Might be worth keeping her on for one more.
Perry dropped on 11
Halfway through the 11th over, Perry is shelled in by Tryon at deep backward square!
Will that be costly? It held up in the breeze and forced Tryon to dive. But she got enough on that and should have held on.
10th over: Australia 79-4 (Perry 7, Wareham 12) Wareham nails a sweep shot for four. That was textbook. She got a big stride in, got down low, held her balance and allowed the blade to flow in one fluid arc. Lovely shot. Off the last ball of the over Perry premeditated a paddle but Mlaba dragged her length back. No bother for Perry, she simply waited for the ball to arrive and paddled anyway, getting two behind Jafta. Another eight runs off that over. Australia are rebuilding nicely.
9th over: Australia 71-4 (Perry 4, Wareham 7) Spin from both ends as Tryon is twirling her arm over. She’s not as accurate as Mlaba and is a bit too short. Perry bunts a straight pull for a single down the ground and Wareham times a back-foot punch that beats the fielder sweeping the covers. Eight off that over. Australia will want more of those.
8th over: Australia 63-4 (Perry 2, Wareham 1) What a start for Mlaba. One wicket and just one run conceded. She was getting the ball to dart back into the right handed Wareham and it was also skidding on. The four Aussie spinners won’t mind what they saw there, but there is a recovery job on here for Perry and her batting mates.
WICKET! Gardner c Wolvaardt b Mlaba 1 (Australia 62-4)
Another catch for the skipper! Gardner, facing just her third ball, looks to take on Mlaba’s off-spin. She dances down the track and looks to lift a drive over Wolvaardt at cover. No dice. It’s straight to the fielder and another one bites the dust. Australia are in a spot of bother now.
7th over: Australia 62-3 (Perry 2, Gardner 1) Khaka joins the party with a big wicket. It was looking menacing when Litchfield bent low to scoop a boundary down to a very fine leg and then swivelled on a front-foot pull to find the rope again and bring up her fifty. But she gambled one too many times and clothed a lofted drive straight o cover.
WICKET! Litchfield c Wolvaardt b Khaka 50 (Australia 61-3)
Straight after reaching her half century she has to go! It was a wonderful knock off just 24 balls but that was a tame end. A skewed cover drive that looped towards the South African captain. She’ll be annoyed with that I reckon.
6th over: Australia 52-2 (Litchfield 42, Perry 1) Litchfield starts the final over of the powerplay with two fours and a six. The first is creamed over the infield and races to the cover boundary. Then she smears one a little finer but still gets enough wood on it to add four to her tally. Ismail then overcorrects and Litchfield rocks onto the back foot and hammers a pull for six over backward square leg. Ismail bowls a wide but is tidy for the second half of the set, conceding just two singles. Still, that’s 17 off the over and after a tricky start the Aussies are going at 8.66.
5th over: Australia 35-2 (Litchfield 27, Perry 0) That’s a good over for the Aussies. A poor ball down the leg side from Kapp is swivelled to the rope by Litchfield. She followed that up with another four, squeezed through cover point with an open bat. The over started with a couple taken with a biff over Kapp’s head that was pulled up just short of the boundary and ended with a single off her hips.
4th over: Australia 24-2 (Litchfield 16, Perry 0) The over started with Litchfield smoking a pull shot that cracked off the blade and found the square leg boundary with one bounce. She got four more when a bumper rushed her and found the top edge. A single brought Mooney on strike and Ismail’s full and wide ball was tantalising bait. She bit, edged behind and had to leave to the sound of Ismail’s roar.
WICKET! Mooney c Jafta b Ismail 7 (Australia 24-2)
Ismail is back! She gets a wicket in her return game and she deserves it for her pace and aggression. After Litchfield bagged two boundaries – one with a mighty pull and the other a top edge – Mooney is back on strike and fishing at a wide one. Her feet were stuck on the crease so she chased away from her body, getting a healthy edge that Jafta snaffles. Ismail roars in celebration.
3rd over: Australia 14-1 (Mooney 7, Litchfield 7) Kapp has two left-handers to bowl to so he has to adjust her lines. She’s a little wide to start and is bunted for two singles through the covers, but then she gets a touch tighter and beats Litchfield with a gem that swings late back into the stumps. There’s a scampered single that would have been worth a second look if Wolvaardt at cover had managed a direct hit at the non-striker’s end. Mooney recognised the need to counter attack and smeared the final ball over the infield and found the boundary at cow corner.
2nd over: Australia 7-1 (Mooney 2, Litchfield 5) Ismail is bustling in and finds the edge of Litchfield’s bat with her third ball, but it didn’t bounce much and it shot along the ground between the keeper and first slip for four. Litchfield then charged down the track and was met with a bouncer that smacked her shoulder off an edge. She was lucky that it didn’t balloon up to a fielder. Three dot balls and one single for Mooney at the top of the over means it’s a tidy return for the South African quick.
Shabnim Ismail, who last played for her country on 26 February at the 2023 T20 World Cup final, will open the other end at 37-years-old.
1st over: Australia 1-1 (Mooney 1, Litchfield 0) What a start for the Proteas. Kapp started a little too straight to Mooney and was clipped for a single. Her second ball was a jaffa that almost found the top of Voll’s off-stump, swining away from leg stump. Then she bagged the wicket. It was a poor stroke from the Australian but they all count.
WICKET! Voll c Reyneke v Kapp 0 (Australia 1-1)
South Africa strike in the first over! It’s a little soft from the Aussie opener. A shortish ball was tamely spooned off the back foot towards a diving Reyneke at midwicket who held on as she tumbled to the ground. That wasn’t short enough to play the pull shot and Voll wasn’t able to time it at all.
Looks like Marizanne Kapp, with her strong action and tricky length, will take the new ball.
She is some cricketer. For my money, one of the top five women cricketers of all time. But that’s a chat for another day.
Here she is to Beth Mooney…
Square leg and a cover sweeping the two boundary riders. Fine leg is up. Two catchers – one at first, the other at fourth.
Anthems now.
BTW, Australia are in green. South Africa are in gold.
No, it’s not just you. I don’t like it either.
The sun has come out above Old Trafford. Was looking a little gloomy a few minutes ago but it’s “bright and breezy” as Nasser Hussain has just said on comms.
Everyone in the crowd is wearing a jacket. Looks chilly.
Elyyse Perry is playing her NINTH World Cup.
My goodness. What an absolute legend.
“Every edition is a clean slate,” she says. “Looking across the competition there are so many strong teams.
“Each time you come to a World Cup it’s just about putting your best foot forward.”
Teams
Four spinners for Australia!
[Insert Peep Show reference here.]
Laure Wolvaardt doesn’t mind having a bowl first. One final tournament you’d think for Shabnim Ismail who is back in the side after more than 1,200 days and will tear in with the new ball.
Australia: Beth Mooney (wk), Georgia Voll, PhoebeLitchfield, Ellyse Perry, Ash Gardner, Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Nicola Carey, Sophie Molineux (c), Kim Garth, Alana King.
South Africa: Laure Wolvaardt (c), Sune Luus, Annerie Derksen, Nadine de Klerk, Marizanne Kapp, Chloe Tryon, Kayla Reyneke, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Shabnim Ismail, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka.
Toss: Australia win, bat first
“Will be good to get out there and put a score on,” says Sophie Molineux as the coin flip goes her way.
She reckons the deck will slow up as the match develops.
A win here this afternoon is especially important given the presence of India in the group.
Only the top two teams will progress to the semi-finals.
For so long, Australia sat alone at the top of the pyramid.
It was everyone else who craned their necks up and wondered how they’d hunt down this uncoquerable beast.
Now they have to do the hunting as they look to win back a crown that felt glued to their head.
Martin Pegan sums it up best:
There are a couple of other blogs on the go as we speak.
Tim de Lisle is wrapping up Scotland’s 40-run win over Ireland.
I don’t mind if you pop in to either/both. Just be sure to come back.
This might be neutral territory, but that doesn’t mean both teams are starting as equals.
Australia have won 15 of their past 16 women’s T20Is away from home, including each of their last six; their only defeat in that span came in their last meeting with South Africa in the 2024 semi-final.
South Africa have won only one of their past seven women’s T20Is away from home, an 18-run victory against New Zealand in March. They have lost each of their three games since then, the last time they recorded a longer losing run on the road in the format was a four-match span from September 2023 to January 2024.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
Talk about jumping in the deep end.
Australia, the most dominant nation in this competition with six triumphs from nine editions, and South Africa, beaten finalists in 2024 and 2023, get their tournaments underway in this clash of titans.
Most bookies and bots have the Aussies as favourites, but Sophie Molineux will know not to take the Proteas lightly.
Two years ago, Anneke Bosch’s unbeaten 74 from 48 balls led South Africa to a stunning eight-wicket win in the semis in Dubai.
Australia were once unbeaten against South Africa in this format across eight consecutive matches. But it’s the Saffas who have recent history on their side with two victories from their last three encounters.
The Proteas have qualified for the last two finals – they lost to Australia by 19 runs in home soil and then choked in a 32-run defeat to New Zealand. An ageing team will feel this might be their last shot. The Aussies, meanwhile, are out to win back what they’ll feel is theirs by right.
I’m excited for this one! Hope you are too. Ping me a mail with your thoughts.
Things get underway at 2:30pm BST/11:30pm AEDT.
Teams and other bits to come,.
