England were undone by two greats of the game to underline the gulf between them and the best sides in the Women's World Cup semi-final, writes Ben Gardner.
Let the post-mortem begin. England lost just once in the group stage but, in truth, crawled through it. Victory over South Africa in the opener, skittling the Proteas for 69, was as good as it got. Now they have been summarily vanquished by the same opposition, never looking close to mounting a record chase. Before the tournament, a semi-final finish looked like a par expectation. But with questions mounting over several of their batters, and over the team balance as a whole, it’s a tournament that feels like a step backwards.
The warning signs had been there. The Linsey Smith opening experiment had proven successful, and allowed England to go in with just one frontline seamer and extend the batting. But it left them without bowling cover, and with Nat Sciver-Brunt short of bowling rhythm throughout the tournament, the possibility for a team to get on top of them was there. Smith had an off-day to end a standout tournament, but with just four specialise bowlers, England were forced to bowl her and Sciver-Brunt at the death. Sixty-five runs flowed in their last four overs between them. From 201-6 after 40.1 overs, South Africa bruised their way to 319-7.
The game was as good as done, as was writ large on England’s stunned faces as they left the field. They had never chased nearly as many, but other sides had, including at this World Cup. The conditions were still good for batting, as shown by the 148 runs scored across England’s Nos.4-6. But from 1-3, there was no coming back. Amy Jones was undone by an exceptional ball from Marizanne Kapp, but the gap between bat and pad was yawning. Heather Knight’s prod and drag on spoke of a scrambled mind. Tammy Beaumont advanced to her first ball, her preferred method of negating an lbw weakness, and was therefore surprised by a wide bouncer. Had she stayed where she was, she would have cut it for four. Instead, it cramped her for room and was snicked through to the keeper. And that, basically, was that.
There will be questions asked of the management. Emma Lamb, an opener by trade, struggled in an unfamiliar role at No.6, with the switch to Danni Wyatt-Hodge coming too late for England to know best how to fit her in. Lauren Filer, England’s fastest ever, went unused through the competition, and while spin dominated, she could have had use on a true, red-soil track at Guwahati. That team balance looks unsustainable against the best teams.
But more than anything else this should be about celebration of South Africa, whose group stage was bookended by a pair of shellackings by the teams who finished above them in the league table, and yet who looked in between like the team best placed to challenge the champions. In Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp they have two titans of the game, each having one of the games of their lives. Wolvaardt extended her 13th World Cup half-century into a maiden World Cup hundred and then onwards, up to seventh on the list of highest scores in the competition’s history. There was a removal of the helmet and a fist pump upon reaching the milestone, but also the feeling that there was more to come. And oh was there.
Kapp’s celebrations, meanwhile, more than made up for any dearth of emotion from her captain. After contributing a priceless 42 off 33, each wicket was greeted with a roar as South Africa surged. Sciver-Brunt, England’s one world-class batter, looked set to continue her phenomenal World Cup record as she cruised past fifty, England just starting to hope again. Then one great all-rounder snared another, moving the ball away off the pitch, kissing the edge on that perfect fourth-stump line. Her fifth wicket of the day was her 44th in all World Cups, taking her past India’s Jhulan Goswami to sit atop the all-time list. At 35, this may well be her last World Cup. She has earned a shot at the ultimate prize.
Across genders and formats, South Africa’s recent success has been heartening. They have regularly troubled the top four at 50-over World Cups and have earned silver medals at the last three T20 World Cups, men’s and women’s. In June, their men won a first cricket world title for South Africa, in the World Test Championship at Lord’s. Now they have reached a first ODI World Cup final. Australia or India will stand in their way. But with Kapp and Wolvaardt in their side, South Africa have nothing to fear.
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