South Africa 319 for 7 (Wolvaardt 169, Ecclestone 4-44) vs England
Laura Wolvaardt’s maiden World Cup century helped South Africa overcome a couple of challenging situations and post a commanding total in their semi-final clash with England in Guwahati.
Wolvaardt’s breathtaking 169 carried her side to 319 for 7, the second-highest score in World Cup knockout matches, and asked England to stage the second-highest successful run chase in women’s ODIs, behind Australia’s 331 to beat India earlier in this tournament.
It came in the face of Sophie Ecclestone’s 4 for 44 as she overcame a shoulder injury suffered in the previous match to be the pick of England’s bowlers.
Wolvaardt was a class above her team-mates in South Africa’s batting line-up, her innings full of trademark elegant drives early on followed by a brutal leg-side assault as she hit the accelerator after the fall of the sixth wicket with her side losing batters in clusters.
South Africa fell from 116 without loss to 119 for 3, as Ecclestone took a sledgehammer to the excellent structure laid down by Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits with two wickets in the space of four balls.
Brits could have been out for 1 off what would have been the sharpest of return catches by Lauren Bell and had attempted a reverse-sweep off left-arm spinner Linsey Smith before ending up in an awkward heap as the ball struck her front pad well outside off stump. When Brits tried it again, it was her undoing as Ecclestone speared one in full on middle and leg and drew a bottom edge onto the stumps.
Then Anneke Bosch, brought into the starting XI to bolster the batting which had failed so miserably against England last time these sides met, lost her off stump as she charged at Ecclestone, yorked herself and departed for a three-ball duck.
Nat Sciver-Brunt made it three down when Sune Luus played across one outside off and chopped onto off stump.
Bell put down another tough chance, leaping to her left at short fine leg off Marizanne Kapp, who was on 36 at the time. But Kapp added just a handful more runs before Ecclestone returned with immediate impact. Kapp lofted a fuller ball outside off stump high over mid-on where Charlie Dean ran back and settled underneath it, ending a 72-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Bell beat Sinalo Jafta’s outside edge with one that straightened a touch to smash into middle and off. Another clutch of South Africa wickets was complete when Annerie Dercksen, apparently having failed to learn from Brits’ downfall, tried to reverse-sweep Ecclestone, hit the ball into the pitch outside off then again through her swing, the second impact ricocheting into the stumps.
Having lumped Dean for a massive 82-metre six over wide long-on, Wolvaardt bided her time through Ecclestone’s final over which included a hopeful yet unsuccessful review for lbw off Chloe Tryon on the last ball.
Wolvaardt then helped herself to 13 of the 15 runs to come off the next over, from Sciver-Brunt, including another six over long-on followed by an authoritative pulled four through backward square.
Sciver-Brunt was proving expensive, conceding 14 off her next over, including Wolvaardt’s third maximum, this time over deep midwicket, and she raised her 150 with a similar effort off Smith, who ended up conceding 20 off the over, all but one of them to Wolvaardt.
When Wolvaardt finally holed out to Alice Capsey as she launched Bell down the ground, she walked off to warm congratulations from her opponents, the gratitude of her team and the rapture of the crowd, who knew they had witnessed something incredible.
That brought in Nadine de Klerk, this tournament’s leading striker to date, but it was Tryon who took charge initially, helping herself to back-to-back fours then a six off Smith, which just evaded Dean who was standing too far in from the long-on boundary. Tryon finished unbeaten on 33 off 26 balls, adding 28 runs with de Klerk to power South Africa’s total well beyond 300.
