Women’s T20 World Cup 2024: Unbeaten Australia face tough South Africa test in semifinal

The head-to-head between these two teams has quite a small sample size, with the two nations only featuring in 10 T20Is against each other, seven of which have come in T20 World Cups.

Laura Wolvaardt of South Africa bats during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 match between England and South Africa at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

‘Stay in the game’ goes the title of a poem South Africa assistant coach Paul Adams penned for the team during the group stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup.

It’s a poignant piece of literature, meant to stop the women from getting ahead of themselves when faced with a hurdle on the field and off it.

“So focus hard, embrace the fight

Each second is our only right

Let doubt and fear just fade away

And own this moment, play by play”

For almost every game, Adams – a left-arm spinner with a quirky action back in his day and now part of the Proteas Women support staff – does something creative to lift the spirits of his squad.

Ahead of the all-important semifinal against Australia at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday, skipper Laura Wolvaardt said she is looking to Adams for notes on how to pump up the side.

“He runs our spin meeting as well and at every meeting, there’s some kind of video about birds that fly together and stick together… about teamwork. Today we had a video about teamwork and ebbs and flows and about going with the game.

“We’ve needed someone to pump us up and bring out a fun element.”

Beating the unbeatable

Staying in the present will be important for South Africa given they take on a formidable adversary it had a lopsided record against. The Proteas have only beaten Australia twice in the women’s game. Both of those wins have come this year, one each in the T20I and ODI formats.

Wolvaardt draws great confidence from those two results, but a sense of deja vu prevails as her side heads for a repeat of last year’s summit clash.

The head-to-head between these two teams has quite a small sample size, with the two nations only featuring in 10 T20Is against each other, seven of which have come in T20 World Cups. Australia has triumphed nine times against the Proteas, including a 19-run win in the T20 World Cup final in Cape Town last year.

Dubai has been a tricky turf for teams in this T20 World Cup. It witnessed a few major injuries (Australia and England). It’s seen major sides falter and fall off the grid (India albeit eventually and England again). Fielding has been an issue across the board in this tournament. However, the fact that two of the fittest teams and two impressive fielding sides come together in this clash will make for an interesting sight against the testing conditions here.

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South Africa won three of its four group games, falling to England in Sharjah in a seven-wicket thrashing. Its qualification was confirmed on the last day of the group stage, in the middle of a dramatic league game between England and West Indies which the latter won. Due to a complex Net Run Rate situation, the South African squad – which was training a few kilometres away – couldn’t believe it when they were told they were through.

“It was a bit weird. No one really knew what the numbers were or what exactly we had to do. Lita (the South African media manager) showed us a stat where we were pretty much in but there was another article which said we could be out if West Indies won. It was a bit weird to be at training not knowing what we’re training for. Halfway through training, when ICC posted it, I believed that one because that’s got to be real,” Wolvaardt said with a smile.

Australia, meanwhile, is unbeaten in the T20 World Cup, not just in the group stage of this edition but since it clinched the title in 2020. Its imperious 15-game unbeaten streak will be an added bonus for the Proteas should they manage to get the better of the Aussies.

“It’s easy to get swept away by Australia and everything they’ve achieved. But at the end of the day, if we play a good game of cricket, we have the talent to beat them. We showed that in the one T20I where we beat them. We also saw that in teams like India and England not qualifying for semis who you thought would have. T20 cricket is a bit crazy sometimes. Anything can happen. If we keep it simple and focus on ourselves, we can do anything on the day,” Wolvaardt said.

She identified the propensity of the middle order to fold when under pressure. Against New Zealand, while the top three began strongly, the mid-level of the Australian batting spine crumbled without resistance. The Proteas will take notes and attempt to replicate the same. However, the real challenge is not to allow the top order to settle. Beth Mooney, newly-promoted Grace Harris and Ellyse Perry have been good with the bat and will eye a high score on the kinder batting tracks in Dubai

Beth Mooney of Australia bats during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 match between Australia and New Zealand at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

A testing encounter against India only made a strong team stronger.

“It’s always helpful to be exposed to that kind of pressure and that kind of opposition,” Australian allrounder Ellyse Perry said.

“It felt like a bit of a step up particularly with the full crowd there which was probably not fully supportive of us. It’s a situation we’ve been in before but not one we were exposed to in this World Cup. I thought the way we rose to that and accepted the challenge was awesome. Hopefully, that holds us in good stead for the time we’ve got left in this tournament,” she added.

Enduring Dubai

South Africa will take comfort in having played three out of its four group games here in Dubai. Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits, who had a great outing at this venue against West Indies, will hope for an encore.

Perry isn’t too worried about unfamiliarity as adaptability has been the theme of the run-up to the World Cup for the Aussies.

“We had the one chance to play in Dubai. We bowled more than we batted then. But we’ve had the opportunity to watch the other games here. There’s some consistent themes that have come out with regard to the conditions. So hopefully our planning we’ve done for the match tomorrow reflects that,” she said.

Bowlers will hold the key to the outcomes in both semifinals. In Marizanne Kapp and Megan Schutt, this fixture has two of the best pace bowling veterans in the women’s game who have been imperious for their respective sides so far. Both have been effective in stemming run flow and keeping big hitters in check and hold the key to their teams’ fortunes in Dubai.

Kapp and much of the senior core of both teams opted to rest on matchday eve, keeping workload management in mind. Alyssa Healy, who sat out the crucial group game against India, did not train ahead of the fixture and is being monitored on a day-to-day basis.

Despite dominating the rivalry and enjoying an enviable run in World Cup cricket, Perry and Australia are not taking the Proteas lightly.

“I think I’ll challenge you on that one (SA being a weaker opponent). South Africa is just as tough a competition as any other team especially when you’re playing a World Cup semifinal. They’ve got some of the best players in the world. You only have to look at Marizanne Kapp and what she’s capable of and how one one single player can turn a game in T20 cricket in particular. We’re just as nervous playing them as we would be playing anyone else. Our preparation has to be spot on if we’re going to be successful,” she said.

The winner of this fixture will meet the winner of the second semifinal between West Indies and New Zealand in the summit clash on Sunday.