Group B, Sharjah
England chase 125 to win by seven wickets with four balls to spare
Sciver-Brunt hits unbeaten 48 and Wyatt-Hodge makes fine 43
SA 124-6 (20.0 overs): Wolvaardt 42 (39); Ecclestone 2-15
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One thing we've seen a lot during the tournament is that the outfields are slow.
Batters' fitness is going to be really tested and the ability to push twos and threes could be the difference between teams, with boundaries hard to come by.
South Africa's Tazmin Brits has a batting average of 41.5 in T20 internationals between England and South Africa, the second-highest of any player behind only Charlotte Edwards (54.1).
SA 4-0
Oh!
Tazmin Brits gets a life. It's a tough chance for Heather Knight at slip, diving one-handed to her right, which she can't cling on to.
She got a full hand on it in the end, and palms it away for the batters to run a single.
Brits survives after Knight drops a difficult early chance
Tash Farrant
England bowler on BBC Sounds
England were happy that they got the win against Bangladesh but deep down they'll know that they didn't play their best cricket.
Hopefully we can see them play to their potential today.
Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits played beautifully against West Indies, both notching unbeaten half-centuries.
And the skipper gets off the mark first ball, guiding three runs past point with her usual imperious timing.
Katherine Sciver-Brunt
Ex-England bowler on BBC Sounds
Both teams know this is an important game to win, it will be quite an even contest.
Today, England will definitely need to improve on their batting from the last game.
I was at the ground when South Africa's national anthem was sung at Newlands for that World Cup final in 2023, and I don't think I'll ever forget that moment and how emotional it was. Everyone had goosebumps, and played a huge part in the pressure that England crumbled under.
It's nowhere near as busy as that in Sharjah today as both the anthems are performed, but you can still see how much it means to the players.
Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits will open up for South Africa, while we can expect a barrage of spin from England once more.
England: Maia Bouchier, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Heather Knight (c), Alice Capsey, Amy Jones (wk), Danielle Gibson, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Linsey Smith.
South Africa: Laura Wolvaardt (c), Tazmin Brits, Marizanne Kapp, Anneke Bosch, Sune Luus, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka.
Image source, Getty ImagesOf course, it was South Africa who knocked England out of the last World Cup in 2023, with the Proteas reaching their first global final in the process.
Before the tournament started, Heather Knight admitted that the side was a little guilty of "looking too far ahead" in that match, and has been stressing the importance of staying in the moment since.
Whoever wins this one can be pretty confident of a semi-final place, so once again there's plenty riding on it. It'll come down to who handles that pressure best, another component of the game that Knight and England have been hammering home.
This will be the sixth meeting between England and South Africa at the Women’s T20 World Cup, with England winning the first three encounters and South Africa winning each of the last two.
England captain Heather Knight: "I would've had a bat, too. But we know the conditions pretty well now, I think it'll play pretty much the same.
"We bowled brilliantly [against Bangladesh] so we'll be looking to do the same and set the tone tonight. It was tricky to bat here the other night so we've had a chat about how we go about things, we still want to play our brand of cricket but adjust it to these conditions.
"We're excited to get going, it'll be a tough test for us. History won't play into it, we know they're a quality side but their opening game was played in different conditions. We'll have to play our best cricket to win.
"Our team is unchanged."
South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt: "We are batting first because the pitch looks slow and we are hoping to get a total and then defend it.
"It was nice to start with a win in our first group game but this is a big game because the chance to go 2-0 in the competition gets us in a good position.
"What would we like to improve? We were pretty good in our first game without being perfect in all areas so it's about trying to improve them."
Image source, GettyLaura Wolvaardt gets her way, calling correctly at the toss and opting to bat first.
England will be chasing a target for the first time in the tournament, having successfully defended just 118 in their opener. It has proved a difficult place to chase so far, so this is going to be a big test for Knight's side.
Good afternoon!
A busy Monday of cricket continues after England's men had a tough first day in Multan, with Heather Knight's side now taking on South Africa in a juicy Women's T20 World Cup encounter.
Both sides won their first matches convincingly, with South Africa being one of the only teams to make batting look pretty easy in the tournament so far as they romped to a 10-wicket win over West Indies, while England relied on their spin attack to grind out a win over Bangladesh.
We'll bring you the team news and result of the toss from Sharjah shortly.
| Batter | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Minutes | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wolvaardt,bowled Ecclestone Wolvaardt, bowled Ecclestone | 42 | 39 | 3 | 0 | 53 | 107.69 |
Brits,caught Gibson, bowled Smith Brits, caught Gibson, bowled Smith | 13 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 68.42 |
Bosch,bowled Glenn Bosch, bowled Glenn | 18 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 69.23 |
Kapp,bowled Ecclestone Kapp, bowled Ecclestone | 26 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 152.94 |
Tryon,bowled Dean Tryon, bowled Dean | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 40.00 |
Dercksen,not out Dercksen, not out | 20 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 181.82 |
Luus,run out Sciver-Brunt Luus, run out Sciver-Brunt | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 50.00 |
de Klerk,not out de Klerk, not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 100.00 |
Extras, no balls 0, wides 1, byes 0, leg byes 0, total 1 Extras, no balls 0, wides 1, byes 0, leg byes 0, total 1 | ||||||
Total,124 for 6 20.0 overs Total,124 for 6 20.0 overs |
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sciver-Brunt | 4.0 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 8.50 |
Smith | 4.0 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 8.00 |
Dean | 4.0 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 6.25 |
Ecclestone | 4.0 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 3.75 |
Glenn | 4.0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 4.50 |
| Fall of wicket | Batter |
|---|---|
31 for 1 (5.1 overs) | Brits |
71 for 2 (13.2 overs) | Bosch |
88 for 3 (15.4 overs) | Wolvaardt |
99 for 4 (16.6 overs) | Tryon |
110 for 5 (18.1 overs) | Kapp |
114 for 6 (19.1 overs) | Luus |
| Batter | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Minutes | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bouchier,leg before wicket, bowled Kapp Bouchier, leg before wicket, bowled Kapp | 8 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 40.00 |
Wyatt-Hodge,stumped Jafta, bowled Mlaba Wyatt-Hodge, stumped Jafta, bowled Mlaba | 43 | 43 | 4 | 0 | 74 | 100.00 |
Capsey,caught and bowled de Klerk Capsey, caught and bowled de Klerk | 19 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 118.75 |
Sciver-Brunt,not out Sciver-Brunt, not out | 48 | 36 | 6 | 0 | 40 | 133.33 |
Knight,not out Knight, not out | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.00 |
Extras, no balls 0, wides 0, byes 5, leg byes 2, total 7 Extras, no balls 0, wides 0, byes 5, leg byes 2, total 7 | ||||||
Total,125 for 3 19.2 overs Total,125 for 3 19.2 overs |
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kapp | 4.0 | 2 | 17 | 1 | 4.25 |
Khaka | 3.2 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 6.30 |
Tryon | 3.0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 8.33 |
Mlaba | 4.0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 5.50 |
de Klerk | 4.0 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 5.75 |
Luus | 1.0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10.00 |
| Fall of wicket | Batter |
|---|---|
16 for 1 (4.3 overs) | Bouchier |
50 for 2 (8.5 overs) | Capsey |
114 for 3 (17.6 overs) | Wyatt-Hodge |
