South Africa have long been England’s nemesis at World Cups, having prevented them from reaching the final in both the 2020 and 2023 editions, so there was an element of relief on Monday as England finally broke that hoodoo – winning by seven wickets, albeit off the final over, to go top of Group B thanks to an unbeaten 48 from Nat Sciver-Brunt.
South Africa now need to beat both Bangladesh and Scotland to guarantee semi-final qualification, while England are in pole position not only to progress out of the group stages but – crucially – to avoid reigning champions Australia (who are expected to top Group A) in the semi-finals.
Heather Knight had warned on Saturday that, given tricky conditions at Sharjah, England’s World Cup batting was “not going to be sexy all the time”. But though they had to grind out runs for the first half of their chase, Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Sciver-Brunt found enough gaps to chisel out the 64-run partnership which took England to touching distance of victory.
Wyatt-Hodge was stumped with 11 runs still needed, but Sciver-Brunt’s beautiful cover drive for four secured the win with four balls remaining.
With England chasing a potentially tricky target of 125, Marizanne Kapp had turned the screw in the powerplay by sending down two maiden overs and swinging the ball unpredictably enough to trap Maia Bouchier leg-before. The final result might well have been different had she also removed Alice Capsey for a duck three balls later – but the catch was spilled by Anneke Bosch at backward point. Capsey went on to add 19 in 16 balls – including back-to-back swept boundaries off Chloe Tryon.
By the time Kapp returned to deliver her final over – the 15th – Sciver-Brunt had settled in and was able to find the leg-side boundary twice: the over cost 12 runs, ruining Kapp’s tidy figures and allowing England to push on to the win.
Earlier, South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt had anchored her side’s innings with 42 from 39 balls, while at the back-end Kapp and Annerie Dercksen muscled six boundaries between them to take South Africa to 124 for six – the highest total yet scored at Sharjah during this World Cup.
But England’s four-pronged spin attack struck regularly, with Sophie Ecclestone taking out the stumps of both Wolvaardt and Kapp at the death – both batters flailing across the line in an attempt to elevate South Africa’s score.
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Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits had got South Africa off to a 10-wicket flyer against West Indies on Friday, with an unbeaten half-century apiece, and they came out all guns blazing again here, adding 31 runs in the first five overs. Their aggression put the England fielders under pressure: four catches went begging before drinks were served – one behind the stumps, one at slip, and two on the ring.
England also fluffed the chance to run out Kapp first ball, throwing in to the wrong end before Amy Jones’s wild hurl down the pitch went wide and left Kapp time to make her ground.
But Brits was finally caught at long-on in the sixth over, trying to go over the top, before an agonising innings from Bosch – 18 off 26 balls – finally came to an end in the 14th over as she tried to break the shackles with a ramp and was bowled by Sarah Glenn.
