Laura Wolvaardt on Wednesday led from the front with a majestic 169 to help South Africa thrash England by 125 runs and reach their first-ever ODI Women’s World Cup final.
South Africa posted 319-7 and then bowled out England for 194 in 42.3 overs with medium-pace bowler Marizanne Kapp returning figures of 5-20 in the first semi-final in Guwahati.
The Proteas await the winner of last night’s semi-final between holders Australia and India for the title clash on Sunday in the outskirts of Mumbai.
Photo: AFP
South Africa made their third straight final of a women’s World Cup — two in T20 tournaments — and their first in the 50-over marquee competition.
They were beaten by England in the semi-finals of the last two ODI World Cups in 2017 and 2022.
Nadine de Klerk dismissed Linsey Smith for 27 as the last wicket to trigger celebrations in the South African camp.
“It still feels a bit unreal,” player of the match Wolvaardt said. “I think that’s the sort of the thing that you dream about as a kid is scoring 100 in a World Cup, knockout game as well. Very special day and I’m so glad we won in the end.”
Wolvaardt set up victory with her first World Cup century as she lay the foundations of the mammoth total in a 116-run stand with fellow opener Tazmin Brits, who made 45.
Wolvaardt reached her 10th ODI ton and then switched gears to take the attack to the opposition in the final few overs, ending with 20 fours and four sixes in her 143-ball knock.
She reached the top of the tournament batting chart with 470 runs including one hundred and three half-tons in eight matches.
Wilyer Abreu watched the ball leave the park and tossed his bat high in the air. His Venezuela teammates streamed out of the dugout in celebration. The comeback was on and the win over the reigning World Baseball Classic (WBC) champion Japan was within reach. Japan, their 11-game WBC winning streak on the line, held a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning of Saturday’s thrilling quarter-final matchup when Abreu put his team ahead with the biggest swing of the game: a three-run shot off Hiromi Itoh that sent the loanDepot Park crowd into a passionate roar and helped seize Venezuela’s 8-5
A BREATHLESS BATTLE: France clinched the championship in a vicious back-and-forth match with England, denying Ireland the title by just a few points France won back-to-back Six Nations titles after beating England 48-46 on a last-second penalty-kick by Thomas Ramos in a thriller for the ages on Saturday. England scored their seventh try in the 77th minute and converted for 46-45. If the score held for a few more minutes, Ireland would have been crowned the champion. But France pressed yet again with 14 men, lost possession, regained it, and earned two simultaneous penalties after the fulltime siren. Captain Antoine Dupont debated with referee Nika Amashukeli where the penalty spots were. Ramos, who did not miss a goal-kick all night, finally lined up his seventh
Home runs are greeted with a celebratory shot of espresso and the donning of an Armani jacket. Victories are marked with bottles of red wine while the soaring voice of opera singer Andrea Bocelli echoes through the locker room. Welcome to baseball, Italian-style. Written off as 80-1 underdogs before the World Baseball Classic started, Italy’s fairytale tournament has carried them all the way to today’s (Taipei time) semi-finals in Miami against Venezuela. On Saturday, Italy — who scored a stunning upset of a star-studded US lineup during the pool phase — kept their unbeaten campaign alive with a nail-biting 8-6
Kimi Antonelli became Formula 1’s second-youngest race winner with a composed drive to victory for Mercedes in an eventful Chinese Grand Prix yesterday. The 19-year-old Italian was the youngest pole position starter and briefly lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari at the start, but retook it soon after and was in control after that. “We did it! We did it!” Antonelli shouted to his team on the radio amid laughs and whoops. It was another 1-2 finish for Mercedes to start the season as Antonelli’s teammate George Russell came through a battle with both Ferraris to finish second. Lewis Hamilton was
RSS