Australia, England, India and New Zealand are the top four teams who will battle it out for the trophy today (Friday, 27 January) as the semi-finals take place in Potchefstroom.
Australia has looked like a team on a mission since losing their opening group encounter against Bangladesh. Since that shock defeat, they have played top cricket beating India and Sri Lanka on the way. Maggie Clark has been a star with the ball taking 9 crucial wickets.
England has also played superb cricket raking up massive scores and wins for fun. Captain, Grace Scrivens, is the top scorer of the tournament with 295 runs at an impressive average of 59 and strike rate of 140.47.
It will be one of the matches of the tournament with both teams deserving a spot in the final.
India take on New Zealand in the other semi-final in what will be a massive encounter. New Zealand are slight favourites, India can never be counted out.
Shweta Sehrawat will be one to look out for with the bat for India. In the same breath, Anna Browning of New Zealand will be key for the Kiwi’s.
South Africa won two matches in the Super Six stage of the ICC u.19 Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup in Potchefstroom last week, but it wasn’t enough to secure a semi-final spot.
South Africa beat Bangladesh by 5 wickets at the J.B. Marks Oval on Saturday, 21 January, and then proceeded to claim a narrow 1-run victory against Sri Lanka at the NWU Oval. SA just missed the semi-final stage due to their net run rate. Their opening defeat against India in the group stage in Benoni proved to be their downfall.
The South Africans will be proud of their effort with bat and ball during the Super Six stage in Potch, where they showed character in two must-win encounters.
Kayla Reyneke was the star for SA with bat and ball against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. She picked up 4/19 against Bangladesh and 2/16 against Sri Lanka with the ball and hit 43 (49) to set up a tense win.
The 15-year-old Simoné Lourens was the top-scorer for SA during the World Cup, hitting 141 runs with a highest score of 61.
Reyneke was also the highest wicket-taker, bagging 8 wickets at an average of 13.5 and an economy rate of 5.68.
The semi-finals will take place at the J.B. Marks Oval on Friday, 27 January, with England taking on Australia (13:45) and India going up against New Zealand (10:00).
India vs Australia (Super Six stage) – Photos: Wouter Pienaar
Entrance to both matches is free. The final is at 13:45 on Sunday, 29 January at the J.B. Marks Oval.
