South Africa defeated England in Cape Town to advance to their first national World Cup final.
In a thrilling match, South Africa performed when it mattered to beat in-form England and march into Sunday's home World Cup final against Australia.
The Proteas posted a very competitive first innings score of 164/4 thanks to half-centuries from openers Tazmin Brits and Laura Wolvaardt.
And the momentum swung back and forth during England's chase as England's openers got off to a blistering start, the Brits holding on for four catches to eliminate each of England's top four and Ayabonga Khaka taking three wickets in a match-changing performance.
It all came down to Shabnim Ismail's final over when England needed 13 runs to win and were six runs short.
The result means South Africa have advanced to their first ever World Cup final in any format.
The Wonder Woman moment when Tazmin Brits pulls off an outrageous catch
England's openers got an answer to a stunning start as they put together 53 runs in the Powerplay to bring down the required score.
The explosive Sophia Dunkley fell at the start of the sixth over and mistimed Shabnim Ismail's big shot into the hands of the Brits to depart from 16 for 28.
And the Brits produced a sensational catch two balls later to remove Alice Capsey scoreless.
Yet there was another twist as the Brits took their third catch of the innings to remove Danni Wyatt for 34. And just when it looked like Nat Sciver-Brunt would steer England into a winning position, the Brits appeared in the deep to remove the top of the tournament. - scorer for 34 balls 40.
England needed a big finish but Khaka had other ideas, playing a brilliant 18th and taking three wickets to remove Amy Jones (2), Sophie Ecclestone (1) and Katherine Sciver-Brunt (0) to leave 25 needed from the last two . overs.
And that triple strike left England short of firepower as they failed to chase down 13 in Ismail's final over and crashed out of the tournament.
British brilliance inspires South Africa | POTM Highlights | Women T20WC 2023
Tazmin Brits was simply brilliant with the bat and electric in the field to inspire South Africa to victory in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 semi-final against England.
Earlier, it was Proteas captain Sune Luus who won the toss and elected to bat first and her openers got off to a steady start in the Powerplay.
The scoring rate wasn't particularly high but South Africa kept the wickets in hand and created a platform as Wolvaardt and the Brits reached 37/0 after six overs.
But with England posting a record score on the same ground a few days ago, albeit against a weaker bowling unit, the onus was on South Africa to attack in the second half of the innings.
Wolvaardt hit a fantastic fifty against England | Batting Highlights | Women T20WC 2023
Laura Wolvaardt hit a classy half-century to set up South Africa's strong first innings effort against England in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 semi-final.
A smooth boundary from Wolvaardt brought up her second half-century in as many matches. But she fell just three balls later, caught by Charlie Dean off Sophie Ecclestone for 53 off 44 balls.
The Brits collaborator started slowly but quickly picked up speed in the second half of the innings, racing to 68 from 55 when she was removed by Lauren Bell in the 18th over to disrupt the Proteas' progress.
Brits blast another World Cup half-century | Batting Highlights | Women T20WC 2023
Tazmin Brits confirmed her good form with a brilliant half-century against England in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup T20 semi-final.
South Africa's power-hitters were left with two overs to add luster to a respectable score.
Ecclestone made a good comeback in her final over to remove Chloe Tryon and Nadine de Klerk to finish with excellent figures of 3/22 from her four overs.
A total of 164/4 was always going to test England and it showed as a vociferous home crowd celebrated South Africa's historic win.
And England will look back with regret at a sloppy and disjointed first-innings effort that allowed South Africa to add more to their score than perhaps they should have.
In contrast, South Africa were exceptional in this area, largely thanks to the British, who repeatedly halted England's progress at crucial moments with their brilliant catches.
Australia awaits in the final
Australia triumphed over India in a thrilling first semi-final on Thursday, holding on for a five-run win after posting a big but insurmountable first innings score of 172/4.
Australia march into final in thriller against India | Digital Daily: Episode 21 | Women T20WC 2023
Mel Jones joins Alex Jordan on Digital Daily: Episode 21 to discuss the thrilling semi-final between Australia and India at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023
Ash Gardner was man of the match for an excellent all-round performance. Her fiery lower order batting helped boost the target, her fielding brilliance played a role in the decisive run and she took two wickets with the ball - including opener Smriti Mandhana.
Australia are aiming for a sixth Women's T20 World Cup title but showed some signs of weakness against India. And the Australians were on the right side of a lucky incident when Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur finished in a bizarre fashion when she looked set to lead her team to a winning position.
India's Harmanpreet Kaur denies the bizarre lapse
South Africa haven't had a particularly strong record against Australia in this format recently, with the Proteas slipping to a six-wicket defeat against the world's best team during the group stage.
But the momentum is firmly with Luus and her side and they will be confident of pushing the Australians all the way.
.jpeg)
