London, July 3 (IANS) Nat Sciver-Brunt proved pivotal as all-round England eased South Africa by 40 runs in the semifinal here at The Oval to set up a date with Australia in the Women’s T20 World Cup final.

Sciver-Brunt helped England rally from a shaky start and post 169/5. Despite a defiant fifty by Tazmin Brits, South Africa crumbled to 129/8 in their 20 overs.

Sunday’s final at the Lord’s Cricket Ground pits the two unbeaten teams of the tournament, England and Australia. England will also be looking to maintain their perfect record at home — they have never lost a women’s World Cup, T20 or ODI, as hosts.

After electing to field first, Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail gave South Africa a fiery start as the latter was the first to have delivered the first blow, claiming the wicket of Amy Jones while Kapp castled Danni Wyatt-Hodge.

Ismail returned to attack and trapped Alice Capsey leg before the wicket to reduce England to 23/3 in 3.2 overs. In the process, Ismail also became the first bowler to cross the milestone of 50 wickets at the tournament, ICC reports.

In the hunt for another key wicket, South Africa bowled out Kapp early, and the pacer finished with outstanding figures of 1/16 in four overs.

After early blows, Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight led the England fightback with a 133-run stand for the third wicket, which is the highest partnership in knockouts in the tournament.

Sciver-Brunt dazzled with her footwork and ran hard between the wickets, hitting 11 fours and a six en route to her eighth half-century in Women’s T20 World Cup. It drew her level with the game’s greats Suzie Bates (New Zealand) and Beth Mooney (Australia).

At the other end, Knight also kept the runs ticking. She brought up her fifty with a heave over deep mid-wicket for six. When it looked like England were about to switch gears, Nonkululeko Mlaba landed decisive blows in the 19th over. She had the England captain caught in the deep while trying to sweep, bringing an end to the partnership. Two balls later, Knight lofted the ball straight to Laura Wolvaardt at extra-cover.

Though England didn’t quite get the acceleration at the death, they finished at a challenging 169/5.

In response, South Africa made a steady start as Wolvaardt and Brits put on an opening partnership of 43 runs. Wolvaardt stay at the wicket was cut short as Sophie Ecclestone grabbed a leaping catch near mid-on off Linsey Smith. Freya Kemp then removed Annerie Dercksen cheaply for 3. The hammer blow was the loss of Kapp, who, having added just five, tried to flick the ball into the leg side but got a leading edge, leaving Sciver-Brunt with the simplest of catches. That left the South Africans on 68-3 in 10.4 overs.

Even as South Africa kept losing wickets at regular intervals, Brits waged a lone battle, getting to 50. However, she was dismissed on the very next ball, as she got a leading edge off Charlie Dean that flew to Sciver-Brunt. Once Brits departed, the South African challenge fell apart and England walked away with the win.

Lauren Bell and Dean were the most effective bowlers on the day and claimed two wickets each. Smith, Freya Kemp and Eccelestone also chipped in with a wicket each.

The result also helped England avenge two straight semi-final defeats to South Africa at the 2025 ODI World Cup and the 2023 T20 World Cup.

Brief scores: England Women 169/5 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 75, Heather Knight 58; Nonkululeko Mlaba 2-25, Shabnim Ismail 2-31) beat South Africa Women 129/8 in 20 overs (Tazmin Brits 51, Laura Wolvaardt 17; Lauren Bell 2-28, Charlie Dean 2-32) by 40 runs

–IANS

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