21 hours ago
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England slumped to a crushing World Cup semi-final defeat as Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp inspired South Africa to a famous victory and their first-ever 50-over final.
After battering South Africa by 10 wickets in the group stage, England were firm favourites to reach a third straight final but Wolvaardt hit a brilliant 169 and Kapp took five wickets as the Proteas won by 125 runs.
South Africa will face either defending champions Australia or hosts India in the final and on this evidence are capable of winning – even if they lost to the Aussies by seven wickets in a group game on Sunday.
They made 319-7 on a good pitch in Guwahati – with Wolvaardt hitting 24 boundaries in a 143-ball knock – to put England on the back foot before Kapp took centre stage en route to become the top wicket-taker in World Cup history.
The veteran pacer bowled opener Amy Jones and Heather Knight in the first over, while Ayabonga Khaka had Tammy Beaumont caught behind for a golden duck in the next to leave England flailing on 1-3. They could not recover from there and were all out for 194.
'We are hugely disappointed and this will take some time to sink in,' said captain England Nat Sciver-Brunt.
England have been dumped out of the Women's World Cup after losing to South Africa
England, who were runners-up in 2022, lost by 125 runs to Laura Wolvaardt's outfit
South Africa pictured celebrating after victory; they will face Australia or India in the final
'I think we have come a long way since the summer, we are a different team, and we have learned a lot, hopefully we can come back stronger.
'To beat the best teams you have to be at your best and we weren't.'
Sciver-Brunt (64) and Alice Capsey (50) both made half-centuries and left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone took 4-44 with the ball in standout England performances.
A review will naturally follow but the call to put South Africa into bat will surely be a main regret.
They won the toss but elected to field and spent much of the following three-and-a-half hours chasing Wolvaardt's shots all over the field.
'It was an incredible innings,' Sciver-Brunt added.
'She assessed the conditions, knew what she was doing, and made it difficult for us.'
