On Thursday, Australia booked their spot in the T20 World Cup title decider after claiming a thrilling win over India. The second semi-final gets underway at 15h00 (SAST) at the picturesque Newlands Cricket Ground on Friday afternoon, with tickets available online from TicketPro , while all the action will be broadcast live on SuperSport Grandstand (Ch. 201).
ALSO READ | ENGLAND CRICKETER’S TABLE MOUNTAIN SCARE: WHAT HAPPENED? You can follow the T20 World Cup semi-final live scoring below: ALSO READ | Women’s T20 World Cup: Record crowds turn up Speaking ahead of the all-important clash, South Africa’s first home semi-final in the history of men or women’s cricket, South African captain Suné Luus expressed the team’s mindset heading into the encounter. “It’s going to be a big occasion but we have been on the other side (losing side) too many times to know exactly what it feels like,” the skipper noted. “The girls today in our meeting, we just said we know how it feels on the other side and we don’t necessarily want to be there again so there’s enough motivation for us to just go out and enjoy the game, we have nothing to lose, so we are going to try and play our best cricket and enjoy the moment,” Luus said.
Having only won three matches out of the previous 23 T20I encounters (1 no result) against England, the Proteas Women will be seeking a much improved display against the English side, with the host nation going into the semi-final with two wins out of four matches in the current T20 World Cup. HAPPY HAPPY | Herschelle Gibbs turns 49 not out: Our TWO favourite memories of the Proteas legend After beginning the home tournament with a defeat against Sri Lanka, the Proteas bounced back with a comprehensive triumph over New Zealand before the defending champions Australia brought the home side back down to earth with a win in Gqeberha. Needing only a victory in the final round-robin tie against Bangladesh, South Africa brilliantly stood up to the challenge to complete a mammoth 10-wicket victory in front of a packed Newlands crowd to set up the semi-final against England.
“It’s always a great honour to be in a semi-final and it was hard work to get into the semi-final, so I am really proud of the girls,” the all-rounder said. “We are searching for that perfect game where all three aspects of the game click together nicely, so for tomorrow that’s definitely something we will be working on; for the batting, to work on our KPIs and for all those boxes to be ticked, as well as in the bowling and fielding department,” Luus added. With over 40,000 fans having come out to watch the T20 World Cup on South African soil thus far, a record for women’s cricket within the country, Luus also shared her personal experience of playing in a maiden home World Cup in front of friends and family, stating: “We’ve 100% enjoyed the tournament.
Being at home, with the crowd especially, they’ve been pushing us to keep going and keep enjoying it, so that has been the best part of it all, especially being home, seeing all the people in the crowd, it has been very cool,” she concluded. The winners of the second semi-final will take on the five-time champions and world number one side, Australia in a hugely anticipated final on Sunday, 26 February at the same venue. ALSO READ | Kyle Verreynne needs to bin the wicketkeeping gloves ASAP Momentum Proteas 15 player squad for ICC Women’s T20 World Cup South Africa 2023: Sun é Luus (Titans) (Captain), Chlo é Tryon (Dolphins) (Vice-Captain), Anneke Bosch ( North West Dragons), Tazmin Brits (Garden Route Badgers), Nadine de Klerk (Western Province), Annerie Dercksen (Garden Route Badgers), Lara Goodall (Western Province), Shabnim Ismail (Dolphins), Sinalo Jafta (Western Province), Marizanne Kapp (Eastern Province), Ayabonga Khaka (Lions), Masabata Klaas (North West Dragons), Nonkululeko Mlaba (Dolphins), Delmi Tucker (Western Province), Laura Wolvaardt (Western Province) South Africa’s Fixtures – ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 Friday, 24 February – 15h00 (SAST) Semi-Final 2: South Africa vs England (Newlands, Cape Town) Sunday, 26 February – 15h00 (SAST) Final (Newlands, Cape Town).
