Wolvaardt, Kapp help South Africa thrash England, enter maiden Women’s ODI World Cup final

South Africa is a side powered by emotion. Brought back to a venue where it had been humiliated by the same opponent — England — by being bundled out for 69, the Proteas roared their way to redemption.

A 125-run victory in the first semifinal at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday powered the side to its first final in the 50-over showpiece.

Needing to pull off its highest chase in the format (the previous mark being 264 against Australia in the Ashes), England got off to the most horrifying of starts, losing its first three wickets for just three runs, with Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka sharing the spoils.

AS IT HAPPENED | England vs South Africa highlights

But England skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt is no stranger to SOS calls. Left to handhold a Herculean pursuit, she took on a largely ordinary Protean attack, blunted by an indifferent wicket, from the word go. She stitched a brisk 107-run stand with Alice Capsey to leave the South Africans feeling the heat.

A cramping Kapp persevered, sending Capsey, Sciver-Brunt, and Sophia Dunkley back to complete a fifer, much like she did against the same opponent in a league stage win in the 2022 edition. Danni Wyatt-Hodge, playing just her second match of the tournament, and Linsey Smith resisted but in vain. The colour faded from the faces of the four-time champions as the dugout silently watched the curtains fall on their campaign.

Wolvaardt masterclass

Asked to bat first, a proposition that has not gone well for the side in the tournament so far, the pressure was on Laura Wolvaardt to manufacture some magic. The think tank even swapped out pacer Masabata Klaas for Anneke Bosch, an additional batter, to make the most of what the strip, called a ‘Mumbai wicket’ by the curator, had to offer.

Wolvaardt delivered, and how! Her imperious 169 off 143 balls echoed the ebbs and flows of the side’s collective nervous system. She whipped out her trademark cover drive off the very first ball and made her intentions clear.

A brittle Tazmin Brits at the other end drew her back now and then to exercise caution, but Wolvaardt was quick to punish bad balls and use a nagging wide line by the English to her advantage. Brits kept trying the awkward reverse sweep, but each time, it was unsuccessful. It would prove to be her undoing, as she deployed it against Sophie Ecclestone only to be nutmegged.

Ecclestone, bowling with some visible pain in her bowling shoulder after sustaining an injury to a joint near her collar bone, barely trained ahead of the game, but stepped up when England needed her most, removing Bosch for a duck a few deliveries later. Sciver-Brunt then packed up Sune Luus, with just three runs scored in the meantime.

The experienced Marizanne Kapp and Wolvaardt, however, stitched a crucial 72-run stand to steady the ship. But smart field placements by Sciver-Brunt enticed Kapp to go big, only for her to fall to Ecclestone.

The Proteas have struggled with high dot ball percentages throughout the tournament, and this game was no exception; 110 of the first 180 balls yielded no runs. Sinalo Jafta and Annerie Dercksen didn’t help that record, finding it hard to gain any momentum. Wolvaardt persevered and brought up a scintillating maiden ODI World Cup ton.

With 202 on the board in 40 overs, something changed in Wolvaardt’s biochemistry as she ruthlessly hunted England’s bowlers one by one. South Africa added 117 runs in the final 10, 68 of them coming from Wolvaardt’s bat.

Schoolkids, part of the anthem ceremony earlier, who had resorted to video games on their mobiles during the slog in the middle overs, swapped games for the camera app, eager to capture every boundary flying off her bat. When she ultimately fell in the 48th over, she was swarmed by her opponents, coming over to pat her back for a job well done, while an ovation and plenty of hugs awaited her in the dugout, as Tryon and Nadine de Klerk carried South Africa to what would be an insurmountable score.

Published on Oct 29, 2025