England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt led from the front on her return from injury with a magnificent 75 in a 40-run Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final thrashing of South Africa at the Oval on Thursday.
England, sent into bat, fell 23-3 inside four overs ahead to spark fears of another knockout defeat in a key event.
But Sciver-Brunt, back after missing the last three group games with a calf injury, fought back to the delight of a crowd of more than 21,000.
She received excellent support from former captain Heather Knight (58), as the two survivors of the last England team to win a major international trophy, the 2017 50-over World Cup, turned the tide with a fourth-wicket partnership of 133 that took their team to a total of 169-5.
Tournament hosts England will play arch-rivals Australia in Sunday’s final at Lord’s. Both teams have won all six of their games.
A chase of 170 was always going to be a tall order for South Africa and they finished well short at 129-8.
“I was probably nervous, the occasion is also very big and that added to the nerves,” Sciver-Brunt, the player of the match, said at the presentation ceremony. “I missed a few games (due to my injury). There was a lot of excitement before the game.”
‘We have our heads together’
She added: “Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail are world-class opening bowlers who can do some damage. So Heather and I wanted to nullify the threat and make sure we were in and could take advantage of other bowlers. “We used our experience, came out together and got the job done.
“We showed composure. We could have tried harder before and it might not have worked, so we were very smart.”
Kapp took 1-16 in his maximum of four overs and Ismail 2-31.
But Ayabonga Khaka and Nadine de Klerk’s combined seven wicketless overs cost 79 runs.
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt said her team had been “outplayed” and added: “We were happy with 170, which we thought was even. They played well, they had good plans and we couldn’t get a step forward.”
Earlier, South Africa enjoyed a bright start by taking three England wickets inside the first four overs.
Fast bowler Ismail struck with her first ball and Amy Jones cut straight to point.
England opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge, whose previous five innings had produced a tournament record 282 runs at a stellar average of 94, was bowled for just 12 by Kapp’s well-disguised slower ball.
England were three down when Alice Capsey was for Ismail.
But Sciver-Brunt and Knight, England’s 2017 World Cup-winning captain, revived the innings.
Sciver Brunt, 33, in his homeland of Surrey, completed an excellent fifty when he whipped De Klerk through midwicket for a ninth four off 35 balls faced.
Knight, 35, swept Khaka hard for a huge six to reach a 42-ball fifty and Sciver-Brunt also cleared the ropes by lifting De Klerk over midwicket.
Both Sciver-Brunt and Knight fell in the penultimate over to left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba (2-25), but by then the damage had been done.
South Africa suffered a major setback in their chase when captain Wolvaardt was trapped for 17 by a diving Sophie Ecclestone at mid-wicket off spinner Linsey Smith.
The Proteas’ 43-1 lead quickly became 49-2 when Annerie Dercksen clipped a slower ball from Freya Kemp to point.
England then captured Kapp’s key wicket for just five when the all-rounder, trying to deflect Charlie Dean to the leg side, gained an edge and gently caught an elated Sciver-Brunt at extra cover.
South Africa opener Tazmin Brits made a fifty at a pace better than a run before falling to Dean.
The Proteas, who defeated England in both the semi-finals of the 2023 edition and last year’s 50-over World Cup, were now virtually beaten 95-5.
Six-time champions Australia easily reached the final with an eight-wicket thrashing of the West Indies in Tuesday’s first semi-final at the Oval.
