Defending champion England will face six-time champion Australia in the final of the Womens Cricket World Cup after beating South Africa by 137 runs Thursday in the tournaments second semifinal at Christchurch.
Australia beat the West Indies by 157 runs in the first of the semifinals Wednesday.
England began the tournament with three straight losses but sealed its place in back-to-back finals with a massive form reversal which culminated Thursday in its fifth consecutive victory.
Opener Danni Wyatt made a career-best 129 from 125 balls as England posted 293-8 after being asked by South Africa to bat first. Anya Shrubsole claimed the critical wicket of opener Laura Wolvaardt for a duck in the second over South Africas reply and Sophie Ecclestone took 6-36 – the best figures of the tournament – as England bowled out the South Africans for 156 in 38 overs.
Wolvaardt had been the leading batter at the tournament with scores of 41, 75, 77, 67, 90, 3 and 80, for 433 runs at 61.8, prior to the semifinals. Her early loss was a massive blow to South Africas hopes of reaching its first World Cup final. South Africa came into the tournament ranked second in the world behind Australia and played to that ranking. Its only loss in the eight-team round-robin was to Australia, which is unbeaten ahead of Sundays final.
England, after its early losses to Australia, the West Indies and South Africa, steadily improved and, playing knockout cricket through its last five matches, fully turned the corner with wins over host New Zealand and India which clinched its semifinal spot.
Still, it was the underdog when the semifinals began and Wyatt upended expectations with an extraordinary innings which unfolded with the assistance of the South Africa fielders who dropped her five times, at 22, 36, 77, 116 and 118. Wyatt wasnt used as an opener at the start of the tournament but was forced into that role and came into her own at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
South Africa’s bowlers either were too full or too short and Wyatt reveled in the opportunities the errant length and width provided. She hit powerfully through the offside forward of point and rifled short balls to the boundary behind square.
England lost opener Tammy Beaumont in the fourth over but Wyatt held together the innings and built partnerships whenever possible. The best produced 116 runs for the fifth wicket with Sophie Dunkley, who made 60 from 72 balls. Wyatt finally was out in the 45th over but Englands total was made more substantial by Sophie Ecclestone, who hit 24 runs from 11 balls before falling to the last ball of the innings.
Shrubsole then knocked off the top of the South Africa innings when she dismissed Wolvaardt and Lizelle Lee within the first four overs. Ecclestone then produced an outstanding performance to ensure South Africa had no chance of recovering, living up to her billing as the No. 1-ranked bowler in womens one-day internationals. “Sophie has been brilliant for us,” England captain Heather Knight said. “Thats her first five-for in international cricket and I thought she bowled outstandingly. She and Charlie Dean were really good on a wicket which had a little bit in it for them.”
