Tahlia McGrath and Ashleigh Gardner took Australia into the semi-finals of the Women's Twenty20 World Cup Saturday with aggressive batting to defeat South Africa by six wickets at St George's Park in Gqeberha.
Chasing 125 to win, Australia were in trouble at 40 for three but McGrath and Gardner went for their shots in a fourth-wicket partnership of 81 to secure victory for the defending champions with 21 balls to spare.
McGrath was the dominant partner, hitting 57 off 33 balls before being caught going for a big hit with four runs needed to win.
She reached her half-century off 29 deliveries.
Gardner made 28 not out off 29 balls.
"Tahlia was excellent, Ash as well," said Australian captain Meg Lanning.
"They summed up the conditions really well and put the pressure back on South Africa."
Lanning admitted that South Africa had started well with both bat and ball.
"They put us under pressure and to respond like that was very special."
South African captain Sune Luus said her team had failed to capitalize on a good start to their innings after they were sent in to bat.
"We just didn't have enough runs on the board," she said.
Australia completed their group matches with four wins from four matches while defeat was a blow to South Africa's chances of reaching the semi-finals of their home World Cup.
With only one win from their first three matches, South Africa will rely on New Zealand defeating Sri Lanka in Paarl Sunday.
The hosts will then need to win their final match against Bangladesh in Cape Town Tuesday to force a three-way tie for second place in Group One.
Net run rate would then be the tiebreaker.
"We still have one game," said Luus.
"It's not ideal to have to rely on other teams but we're going to leave everything out there."
South Africa made 124 for six after being sent in.
An enthusiastic home crowd cheered an opening partnership of 54 in nine overs between Laura Wolvaardt and a hard-hitting Tazmin Brits.
But the innings went into decline after Wolvaardt was caught behind by wicket-keeper Beth Mooney off Ellyse Perry for 19.
Mooney took the gloves in place of Alyssa Healy who was rested because of a left squad strain.
Marizanne Kapp was caught by Mooney off Darcie Brown without scoring and leg-spinner Georgia Wareham made a double strike in the next over, bowling Brits for 45 and having Chloe Tryon caught at midwicket off a full toss for a single.
15TH MATCH
South Africa 124/6 (Brits 45, Wareham 2/18) lost to Australia 125/4 in 16.3 overs (McGrath 57, Kapp 2/21) by six wickets
England step away from last four
A career-best five-wicket performance by Indian opening bowler Renuka Thakur was not enough to stop England's march towards the semi-finals.
England won a top-of-the-table Group Two contest by 11 runs, handing India their first defeat of the tournament.
Thakur took wickets in each of her three overs in the powerplay and claimed two more in the final over of the innings to finish with five for 15 in seamer-friendly conditions.
But Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones scored freely during most of the rest of the innings as England posted 151 for seven.
India replied with 140 for five.
"We started really well," said Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
"But in the middle overs we didn't stick to our plan,” she added.
Light rain started to fall towards the end of the match.
Kaur said they were aware of the possibility of a reduced target but they were well short of the required rate.
"When you are behind you have to take charge and you lose wickets," she said.
England captain Heather Knight said it was a good sign for England that they were able to fight back after Thakur's early onslaught reduced them to 29 for three.
"We talk about batting according to conditions," she said.
"It was good after three wickets lost early to show we can still punch out a score," she added.
Sciver-Brunt hit 50 off 42 balls, sharing a 51-run partnership with Knight (28) which put the innings back on course.
Jones hit powerfully in the second half of the innings and made 40 off 27 deliveries.
Smriti Mandhana gave India a strong start when she hit four boundaries off Katherine Sciver-Brunt in the third over of the Indian innings.
She went on to make 52 off 41 balls.
But India struggled to maintain the required run rate against steady English bowling.
Four wickets fell to catches off attempted big hits and there was a run-out as India tried to lift the tempo.
Teenager Richa Ghosh hit powerfully towards the end, making 47 not out off 34 balls, but it was not enough to change the outcome.
England, who play Pakistan in their final group match in Cape Town Tuesday, are virtually certain to qualify for the semi-finals.
India are also well-placed to reach the last four as they meet Ireland in Gqeberha Monday.
14TH MATCH
England 151/7 (Sciver-Brunt 50, Thakur 5/15) beat India 140/5 (Mandhana 52, Glenn 2/27) by 11 runs
