Proteas dream becomes a nightmare
THE dream is over. The Proteas have been knocked out of the Women's World Cup.
Their objective of becoming the first South African team to reach a World Cup final lay in tatters on the Hagley Oval outfield yesterday.
It will instead be traditional rivals England, who trounced South Africa
by 137 runs in this second semi-final, and Australia that will once again contest the showpiece on Sunday.
The major disappointment for the Proteas will be that they comfortably kept their worst performance of the tournament for the knockout stages.
“Obviously it's a very sad changing room, different to all of our games that we've been playing," said captain Sune Luus.
“It's going to be a hard pill to
swallow this one, especially just in the way we lost. I felt like that was a bit disappointing."
This “Golden Generation” of players, who have most likely played their last 50-over World Cup game together, will have to live with the fact they did not play to their full potential when it mattered most. It is those sobering thoughts that will live in their minds for a long time.
“There's a couple of players who
it might be their last World Cup and I think for us as younger players it breaks our hearts that we couldn't give the final to them and help them get that trophy that they've been working towards for 15 years," Luus said.
“I think that breaks our hearts more that we couldn't support them if it's their last World Cup."
England outclassed South Africa in every department – or at least the Proteas allowed them to.
Luus and her team were terrible in the field with six dropped catches and 20 extras, which included 16 wides, setting the disappointing tone upfront before a batting collapse that saw them bowled out for just 157.
It had all started so promisingly with Luus winning the toss and inserting England. Everything seemed to be going according to plan when Marizanne Kapp had the dangerous Tammy Beaumont caught behind in the fourth over.
South Africa continued to make inroads Ayabonga Khaka and Shabnim Ismail (3/46) joining in with the wickets of Heather Knight and Nat Sciver before the catching malaise caught fire which allowed Danni Wyatt five chances en-route to her match-winning 129.
The England opener survived chances on 22, 36, 77, 116 and 117 with Lizelle Lee being the primary culprit offering up two missed chances. Kapp, Lara Goodall and Ismail were the others.
Mignon du Preez also dropped Sophia Dunkley, who made 60 as part of a 116-run fourth-wicket stand with Wyatt, as the pair set up England's impressive 294/8.
"We didn't really take our chances. I think we were given a couple and I don't think it was our best fielding performance. So I think, if we took our chances, it might have been a different score. But at the end of the day 290 was a good score to chase. We just didn't apply ourselves with the bat," Luus added.
The Proteas were never in the hunt as early as the fourth over of the run chase with Anya Shrubsole (2/27) removing both South African openers Laura Wolvaardt (0) and Lee (2) on the cheap.
Wolfvaardt's fire that had shone so brightly in this World Cup was extinguished without adding to her 433 tournament runs, while Lee's dire campaign fizzled out.
From there on South Africa were simply going through the motions with the result inevitable. There were meagre contributions through the middle-order, but none of them could live with the brilliant Sophie Ecclestone.
The No 1 ODI bowler delivered when it mattered most as she ran through the Proteas' lower-order with the best figures of the tournament as she finished with 6/36 to deliver the coup de grace for England.
"Sophie bowled exceptionally well again today, she's an absolute Goat and I'm sure form that's going to be the first of many fifer's and yeah, she was absolutely unplayable today especially with that pace and dip – bit of turn as well that she was getting. I think she's bowling exceptionally well at the moment," England centurion Wyatt said.