Former Women’s World Twenty20 champions England will look to set a repeat final against Australia when they take on South Africa in the second women’s semifinal at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today.
South Africa women have never made it in to the knockout stage of the World T20 in the last three editions while England are the only team other than Australia to have the honour of lifting the title.
England had lost to Australia, who already sealed a final berth beating West Indies yesterday, in the World T20 final in 2012 and a win today will be a perfect platform of avenging their defeat.
England have a strong pace department at their disposal and will look forward to with Anya Shrubsole, top wicket taker in the tournament so far picking 10 wickets from four matches, and Natalie Sciver, placed third in the list with seven wickets. Meanwhile the South African pace bowling duo of Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail, both taking seven each so far, is key to their chances of restricting the English women to a gettable total.
Skipper Charlotte Edwards, with 151 runs from 4 matches, will also lead the England batting chart while South Africa have Dane van Niekerk who scored a run less than her counterpart.
Losing only one match in the group stage, England captain Charlotte Edwards, who won the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year award in 2008 and was player of the tournament in 2012, was thrilled to play in the knockout stage.
“We really back ourselves, and the way the girls have bounced back from the first defeat is outstanding. We feel we’re in a really good position going into the semifinals stage of this tournament. This is the part of the tournament we all looking forward to, we get to play in front of the big crowds and a television audience. We really can’t wait to get there,” said Edwards.
On the other hand, South Africa captain Mignon du Preez was delighted to play in their first ever Wprld T20 semifinal and said, “The girls have been working so hard for the past few years. We knew we had it in us but we could never make it click in the crucial stages. I’m honoured to be captain of this team and to lead South Africa in our first semi-finals.”
