Heather Knight had warned her teammates about this. Teammates, who had just been accustomed to commanding larger audiences wherever they went. When the Women’s T20 World Cup had to be moved from Bangladesh – a cricket-crazed society that swarms locations regardless of their team’s performance – to the searing UAE heat, Knight was pragmatic about the prospect of playing in nearly empty stadiums. Perhaps this is why teammates’ families traveled for support, including a pregnant Katherine Sciver-Brunt. The English contingent of about 200 people, intermingled with a few African family members, would not miss any occasion to show their support for the team. A neutral band, meanwhile, amused the tiny crowd at Sharjah Cricket Stadium with 90s Bollywood hits.To balance the decibel levels, the venue DJ switched allegiance to South Africa, blasting Shakira’s ‘This Time for Africa’ to commemorate each of their triumphs, which were few on Monday.
3 woes for Africa
He abstained from cueing in the Waka Waka a few times, including when South Africa lost its first wicket in the powerplay, which may have been the most appropriate time. It was time for another new reveal at No. 3, this time from Africa.
Despite having the best first-innings total of any of the four who had previously batted on Sharjah’s two-paced course, South Africa’s 124 fell short. By at least 10 to 20 runs, according to their captain’s estimation. And, as much as it was due to a lack of effort in the middle time, it was also possible that South Africa was bound by pointless experimentation. After the openers gave a solid foundation to build on, Anneke Bosch’s troubles in the middle slowed the team’s scoring rate in seven consecutive boundary-free overs of the nine in the middle-overs phase, leaving the rear finishers to catch up.
Marizanne Kapp is now South Africa’s customary third place finisher. She has been for a while, ever since a nearly identical request to rethink the strategy at one-drop position was made at the 2018 World Cup in the West Indies, in conditions that were not too dissimilar. Kapp has scored 856 runs for South Africa in 36 innings since then, including a career-best 75, making that position her own.
South Africa never revealed who their number three was, despite openers Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits finishing the small sub-120 chase all on their own against the West Indies in the tournament opener. It should not have had that level of fascination in the first place. Bosch was promoted to one-drop only after three matches in Pakistan, and she scored a duck in her debut game. However, with the Africans resting Kapp for the next two games, Bosch not only retained her position at number three, but also developed confidence in the role, scoring 24 and 46 not out in the series decider, which her team won.
However, in demanding conditions in Sharjah, Bosch found it difficult to replicate that accomplishment. England relied heavily on spin, having only bowled two medium-pace overs from Nat Sciver-Brunt until the 15th, and were seven minutes ahead of schedule at one stage. On a two-paced circuit, Bosch struggled to stop Sophie Ecclestone’s four-pronged spin attack, creating two chances off her early. To be fair, Bosch did ultimately break the shackles with the first ball of the 14th over, sweeping Sarah Glenn to the boundary for 18 off 24. However, a calculated sweep off the very next delivery ended Bosch’s mostly laborious innings. Kapp then arrived and launched a busy 17-ball cameo worth 24 points, pushing South Africa’s score to triple digits.
On the contrary, England’s chase demonstrated the benefits of role clarity and continuity. Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka’s tight bowling with the new ball put England considerably behind South Africa’s powerplay total when they lost their first wicket in the fifth over. However, Alice Capsey’s appearance and quick cameo opened the door for victory.
It helped that Wolvaardt fed Capsey spin straight up, and she brushed Chloe Tryon to the legside fence for a 12-run PowerPlay last over, before unleashing one over mid-off. Tryon’s two-over spell cost 19, and she was soon removed from the attack. A well-set Danni Wyatt-Hodge soon began to free her arms and had the assured company of Nat Sciver-Brunt to see her through the chase, but England had Capsey’s handy 16-ball 19 to thank for allowing them to catch up on the asking rate before falling too far behind the eight ball.Only once had South Africa successfully defended a total against England in WT20Is, and that was in the 2023 World Cup semifinal in Cape Town, and Capsey, in a way, insured the record would remain intact for the time being.
India has already come under fire for introducing a sixth new batter in this World Cup cycle as their new number three on the eve of their tournament opener, which they lost by 58 runs and then promptly rejigged again. Pakistan, too, has been guilty of not displaying a steady batting order, with Aliya Riaz demoted in the home series against South Africa last month but quickly rising up the order despite skipper Fatima Sana’s impressive figures in the middle-order.
The fortunate side, as Wolvaardt stated, is that South Africa is open to whatever modifications that team management may feel appropriate.
“She’s traditionally batted three for us in the past but Anneke was striking it really well leading up to this and Marizanne, obviously, has quite a hectic workload as a seaming all-rounder. But yeah I think that’s something that our batting coach Baakier [Abrahams] has been thinking about for many hours in his room, and I’m sure he has a reason behind the lineup as it is. But, yeah, definitely open to any changes,” Wolvaardt said following the seven-wicket loss, which dropped them to third place in Group B.
South Africa has already completed two of their most difficult group matches at this World Cup, and the second half might provide ample opportunity to improve on their net run rate, which isn’t a major issue in their pool right now. They will also play both games in Dubai, a stadium Wolvaardt ranked higher than Sharjah’s slow outfield, which did not provide as much “value for shots”. However, if they look inward following their setback to England, embracing consistency in the UAE’s difficult batting conditions may be the only foolproof method to secure a spot in the knockout rounds and beyond.