The SA women's cricket team have progressed to the semifinals at two editions of the 50-over World Cup and three editions of the T20 World Cup since 2020.
By qualifying for the penultimate round of the Women’s Cricket World Cup, the Proteas women have continued a record run, becoming the first South African team in any sport to qualify for the semifinals at five successive World Cup tournaments.
Even widely celebrated four-time Rugby World Cup champions the Springboks haven’t managed this feat.
While the Boks have progressed to the last four at three successive World Cups, they were knocked out in the quarter-finals at the 2011 showpiece held in New Zealand.
The national women’s cricket team have progressed to the semifinals at two editions of the 50-over World Cup and three editions of the T20 World Cup since 2020.
Looking ahead
Though they qualified for the playoffs (along with Australia) after the match between New Zealand and Pakistan was rained out in Colombo on Saturday, it remains unclear who the Proteas will face in the penultimate round of the tournament, as they set their sights on lifting South Africa’s first senior Cricket World Cup trophy.
Currently lying second in the standings, the SA team have two games left in the league stage of the tournament, to be played against Pakistan and Australia next week.
And a lot of movement is still expected among the top four, with England, India, New Zealand and Bangladesh all still in contention for the playoffs.
Knocked out
The only teams who cannot progress, at this stage, are Pakistan and tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka, who have both been unlucky with two of their games being rained out without a result.
The team that finishes top of the first-round standings will compete against the side that ends fourth, while the second-placed squad will turn out against the third-placed team.
The first semifinal will be played in Guwahati on 29 October, and the second semifinal will be contested in Mumbai on 30 October.
