England versus South Africa. A World Cup semi-final that – if the rest of the tournament is anything to go by – is likely to come down to the wire. Heather Knight at the helm, facing off against Marizanne Kapp, Laura Wolvaardt & co. If that all sounds familiar, it’s because it was exactly the situation faced by England on their path to world domination, five years ago at home in 2017.
On that occasion, at Bristol, England were left relying on an unlikely hero with the bat – Anya Shrubsole. With England eight wickets down and needing two runs to win from the last three balls, Shrubsole stuck out her bat and flayed a boundary through point: cue heartbreak for South Africa, and relief for England. The good news, if you are English, is that Shrubsole will be available for selection in Thursday’s repeat of the 2017 semi-final at Christchurch, after being rested against Bangladesh.
Despite Shrubsole’s availability, Knight is hoping that this time around, the semi-final will not be decided by England’s No 10. “It’d be a little bit nicer if it wasn’t as close, because that’s one of the most nervous finishes of a cricket game I’ve ever had!” she said on Monday. But this is a tournament which has seen England lose their first three matches before just about jittering across the line in must-win games against India and New Zealand. Meanwhile, opponents South Africa have experienced four final-over finishes; their last – against India – came down to the final ball. Another close match may well be in the offing.
Knight brushed off England’s poor start to the tournament, saying that her side are “in a very good place”: “It’s been a remarkable turnaround. It shows the character that we’ve got in this group to pick ourselves up after a poor start to the competition.
“We’ve built a bit of momentum in the last few games. We feel like we’re peaking at the right time,” she added. It is true that England have now won four matches on the trot, facing down the ignominy of being eliminated at the group stage as defending champions. But given that their only convincing wins in the tournament have come against bottom-placed Pakistan and Bangladesh, a semi-final against a South African side who finished above them in the table is going to be a stern test.
England have deployed the same approach throughout the tournament: hand Shrubsole and Katherine Brunt the new ball, and build the team around that, whether they make breakthroughs or not. Freya Davies bowled a consistent, nagging line and length against Bangladesh, returning two for 36, while left-armer Tash Farrant remains on the sidelines. Nonetheless, Knight has already indicated that England will be reverting to the usual suspects for Thursday’s semi-final.
Bizarrely, Charlie Dean’s selection also remains up in the air, despite the fact that she has taken more wickets for England in the tournament (10) than any other bowler bar Sophie Ecclestone.
Knight has been effusive with praise for the young off-spinner, who was brought into the side last summer based on the captain’s own hunch after playing alongside her at London Spirit in the Hundred. “Sometimes going into these big world events, you don’t know how players are going to react,” Knight said on Monday. “The way she’s come in, she’s taken wickets, she’s dealt with the pressure, has been a big positive for her.” Nonetheless, she refused to confirm whether Dean would play on Thursday, saying that it depended on pitch conditions.
Quick Guide
Three South African players to watch
Show
Laura Wolvaardt
The leading run-scorer in the World Cup so far, with five half-centuries in seven matches and a tournament average of 62. If she can score 24 or more on Thursday, she will surpass Debbie Hockley’s record (achieved at the 1997 tournament) of most runs scored at a World Cup. England will be desperate to atone for previous mistakes, after fluffing three chances against her in their group-stage fixture (she went on to score a crucial 77). Brunt and Shrubsole will need to be extremely disciplined with their lengths to avoid feeding her strength – a gorgeous cover drive.
Lizelle Lee
South Africa’s opening batter missed the first part of the tournament due to attending the birth of her baby, and has subsequently had an unusually quiet World Cup. In six innings so far, she has reached double figures just twice, and she has a top score of 36. Nonetheless Knight singled her out in Monday’s press conference as a potentially “explosive” threat – for good reason. She scored more runs than anyone else last year in ODI cricket, and if she does get her eye in, England could be in trouble.
Shabnim Ismail
Small but ferocious, Ismail has clocked speeds of 77mph this World Cup and is fresh from a spell against India which yielded two key scalps and cost them their place in the semi-finals. She went wicketless against England in the group-stage fixture but was only able to bowl half her allocation of overs, forced off the field after injuring her big toe. She was also tasked with bowling the final over in the 2017 semi-final, conceding the runs which ultimately lost South Africa their place in the final – so she’llwill be keen for revenge this time around.
With no shake-up on the cards, it looks likely that South Africa will end up facing an almost identical team to the one which they beat by three wickets in the group stage. England have overcome some of their failings since then – their fielding has dramatically improved, while the number of extras conceded has fallen, too. But their new opening partnership of Tammy Beaumont and Danni Wyatt, whose best stand this tournament is 20 against Pakistan, will once again come under scrutiny against a South African bowling line-up widely considered the best in the world. Marizanne Kapp proved England’s nemesis last time, bagging her first five-wicket haul in international cricket and scoring 32 from 42 balls after South Africa’s run-chase had stalled. Seamers Shabnim Ismail and Ayabonga Khaka, who are two of the top five wicket-takers in the tournament to date, are also potent threats.
Should England succeed in reaching the final, it will represent a dramatic turnaround of fortunes. But for Knight, this semi-final is a chance to look forward, not back. “You don’t want to go crazy and make a huge deal of it,” she said of her side’s earlier run of losses. “We go in as equals, and start afresh on Thursday.”
