Australia weren’t brave enough with the bat, and were outsmarted by match-winner Anneke Bosch when they bowled, in their heartbreaking T20 World Cup semifinal loss, former Australian vice-captain Lisa Sthalekar believes.
Australia’s domination of women’s cricket was ended sensationally in Dubai after an inspired South Africa hammered them by eight wickets.
Bosch proved their ultimate executioner, blasting the highest individual score of the tournament, 74 not out off just 48 balls, to make preposterously light work of Australia’s 5-135 with 16 balls to spare.
It means an Australian side won’t feature in a global Women’s T20 showpiece for the first time in 15 years as their hopes of a fourth triumph were obliterated.
Injured Australian skipper Alyssa Healy said after the match she rued not pushing herself to play with Australia expected to sail past the Proteas into Sunday’s final.
“Australia was simply outplayed. The way SA bowled and was able to restrict the Aussie’s is a real credit to them,” Columnist for The Nightly, Sthalekar, said from Dubai.
“Given the fact that Australia has the longest batting order, to only be five down, maybe points to the fact that players didn’t take as many risks as they could have.
“With the bat, the Aussies found the fielders a lot. With the bowl, they bowled maybe too tight a line which had been really affective during this tournament. But SA had figured out a way to score with Bosch playing the game of her life.”
Sthalekar said in the end South Africa were “simply too good” and Healy would be justifiably heartbroken.
“I feel for Healy. It is a terrible position to be in and I no doubt there would be regret for not trying to get on the park. Cricket is a horrible game sometimes when you have to sit back and watch things unfold,” she said.
Healy suffered a foot injury before the finals that ruptured a plantar fascia.
“So it was just a matter of function and pain and what I could handle, and, ultimately, I probably only had one game in me, and probably took the wrong risk,” she said.
After winning the last four World Cups — three in T20 and one at 50 overs — in a fantastic six-year reign, one of global sport’s most successful teams was finally downed in a wholly unexpected one-sided affair overnight.
Beth Mooney top-scored with 44 and Ellyse Perry made 31, while Ayabonga Khaka (2-24) and spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba (1-31) were also outstanding for the Proteas.
“It’s going to be pretty hard to take. We didn’t show up tonight, and can’t afford to do that in tournaments like this,” stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath said.
After 15 straight match wins in the tournament stretching back four years, Australia, again without injured skipper Healy, simply never fired after being put into bat, battling to 5-134 against impressively tight South African bowling.
South Africa, after revenge for their T20 final defeat on home soil in 2023 and feeling confident following a couple of white-ball wins in Australia earlier this year, made the target look a cakewalk with Bosch cracking eight fours and a six in the second-fastest 50 of the tournament.
She was aided by skipper Laura Wolvaardt (42 off 37) in a daring 96-run second-wicket partnership which showed Australia’s earlier scratchiness.
“I think they outplayed us tonight. We just weren’t at our best,” shrugged McGrath, another who struggled to eke out 27 off 33 balls after the early double shock of Australia losing Grace Harris and Georgia Warehamin the first three overs.
“We’ve had this World Cup in our minds for a very long time now. We worked hard over the off-season, and we were well-prepped coming into here, felt like we left no stone unturned.
“But we just didn’t show up on the night.”
The Aussies had again been anchored by a typically steadfast opening effort from Mooney, who became the fastest woman to 3000 T20I runs during her knock.
But she looked weary by the time she was expertly run out by bowler Marizanne Kapp (1-24), who’s having a cracking tournament.
The loss of dashing opener Healy felt a particularly big miss as Australia mustered only 2-35 off the first six overs – their worst powerplay of the tournament.
The strong Aussie attack was then shredded by Wolvaardt and Bosch, who between them slapped 12 off Wareham and then 15 off Ash Gardner in consecutive mid-innings overs to effectively seal the deal.
In the final on Sunday in Dubai, South Africa will take on West Indies or New Zealand, who meet in the other semifinal in Sharjah on Friday night.
McGrath and her team are left having to raise themselves for the home summer ODI series against India, trans-Tasman contests with New Zealand and a big Ashes campaign against England.
“We’ll get around each other, we’ll regroup and there’s still plenty of cricket on the calendar,” McGrath said..
With AAP
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