In the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023, Australia Women will be fighting for the title against South Africa Women in Cape Town’s Newlands on Sunday.
South Africa did not have the best of campaigns in the group stage, as they won only two of their four matches. However, they were seen at their best in the semi-final clash, where they handed a star-studded English team a six-run defeat.
Australia’s story is very different from that of South Africa, as the five-time champions have won every single game that they have played so far. After winning all of their four group-stage matches, Meg Lanning’s team won the semi-final clash against India by five runs.
What Have They Done So Far?
South Africa had the worst of starts, as they suffered a surprising three-run defeat against Sri Lanka in their first match. But that was the wake-up call they needed, as Sune Luus’ team then handed New Zealand a 65-run defeat.
The momentum was lost again when the Proteas lost the third match against Australia by six wickets, but a 10-wicket against Bangladesh in the last match helped South Africa make it to the semi-finals. In the last match, the hosts won against England by a narrow six-run win.
Australia started their journey with a 97-run win against neighbours New Zealand in the first match, whereas, in the second match, they secured an eight-wicket win against Bangladesh. The third match saw Lanning’s team beat Sri Lanka by 10 wickets.
After beating South Africa by six wickets in the last group stage match, the Aussies met India in the semi-final fixture. While Harmanpreet Kaur’s women in blue gave the world number 1 team a run for their money, Australia eventually won the match by five runs.
Head to Head Record
The head-to-head records are completely inclined in favour of Australia. These two teams have crossed paths on six occasions in the T20 format and the Aussies emerged victorious on all of those occasions.
The last meeting, which took place only a few days ago, saw Australia securing a six-wicket win. Batting first, South Africa could only score 124 as Georgia Wareham did a great job with the ball, Lanning’s team then chased the total down in 16.3, and at the loss of only four wickets, with Tahlia McGrath scoring a half-century.
Key Players
Tazmin Brits (South Africa): It has taken a lot of good performances for South Africa to qualify for their maiden Women’s T20 World Cup final, but if we are to pick one player from the lot, Tazmin Brits should get the honour. The batter is currently her team’s leading run-scorer, having scored 176 runs at an average of 44.
Tazmin Brits has been excellent with the bat for South Africa
The 32-year-old scored only 13 runs in the first two matches, but she has been unstoppable in the last three matches. Britz scored 45 against Australia, struck an unbeaten 50 against Bangladesh and then recorded a 68-run knock against England in the semi-final.
Ashleigh Gardner (Australia): Ashleigh Gardner is currently among the most reputed all-rounders in women’s cricket and she has only helped her stature in this tournament. She is currently the joint-highest wicket-taker from her team with 9 wickets, while Gardner also has scored 81 runs.
The 25-year-old’s best performance with the ball came in the first match against New Zealand, as she picked up a five-wicket haul by conceding only 12 runs. As for her batting show, she scored a quickfire 31 in the semi-final against India.
Predicted Playing XIs
South Africa: Laura Wolvaardt, Tazmin Brits, Marizanne Kapp, Sune Luus ©, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Anneke Bosch, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeko Mlaba.
Australia: Alyssa Healy (wk), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning ©, Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Georgia Wareham, Jess Jonassen, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown.
Prediction
While South Africa should be proud of their efforts to make it to this stage of the competition, taking on Australia will be a whole different ball game. With the Aussies having beaten the Proteas in every T20I meeting, we have predicted Lanning’s team to win this match.