All-round England cruise to fifth Women's T20 World Cup final

It's all set for an England-Australia Sunday finale after Nat Sciver-Brunt's team shattered South African hopes in the second semi-final of the Women's T20 World Cup 2026 on Thursday (July 2).

For the first half hour of the game, those hopes burned bright. Most teams had tried and failed to put England's batting under the pump. But the Marizanne Kapp-Shabmil Ismail pairing cut through, leaving them at 23/3.

That included Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who finished with a tally higher than any other in a single Women's T20 World Cup edition (294). She was cleaned up by a Kapp special: a death stare followed for what was her eighth T20 dismissal to her.

Across the Powerplay, SA were admirably disciplined, sending down exactly one full ball, and keeping everything at length or shorter on a dry pitch with variable bounce.

But a counterattack was quietly brewing. Sciver-Brunt, crucially back in the side after injury, combined with Heather Knight, and the two experienced hands put on the highest stand for any wicket in a Women's T20 World Cup knockout - 133.

Running hard between the sticks, they also ensured timely boundaries: between overs 7 and 14, they hit at least one four to never let the run-rate falter. Both utilised the crease well to find angles behind square, trusting finesse over firepower, but also bringing out the scoops and ramps where needed. There was a distinct change of gears by the 15th over mark.

The 17th and 18th overs yielded 31 runs combined, with Knight reaching her fifty by clubbing a six over midwicket. Sciver-Brunt, meanwhile, tore into Nadine de Klerk with a flurry of leg-side hits. Neck-and-neck at one point, she raced past Knight's scoring rate, just in case there was a healthy competition on between the two.

As a small consolation, Nonkululeko Mlaba claimed them both in the 19th over, but by then, England had set themselves up for the fourth-highest total in Women's T20 World Cup knockouts. As the lights came out, the evening got significantly cooler, just like England's batting had in the second half with Knight & Sciver-Brunt: the last ten overs yielded 101 runs.

The chase had to be spearheaded by the in-form Tazmin Brits, and she set off briskly. Laura Wolvaardt, in search of a meaningful score, muscled Charlie Dean and Linsey Smith down the ground to get going, but the latter didn't let her go on for long, having her caught in the in-field repeating the same shot.

Brits could have been caught at 23, but a difficult one-handed attempt couldn't be held on by Dean. It brought forward England's biggest nemesis so far: dropped catches. And like before, they managed to not let that harm them.

But SA, whose wins so far had largely been scratchy, pushed along without really chasing the required run-rate, perhaps too fixated on caution. Brits kept going, even as partners disappeared. By the time Kapp was beaten in the air by Dean in the 11th over, SA had only mustered 68 runs.

Brits solderied on, but Lauren Bell's second spell took out Sune Luus, leaving her with de Klerk, Chloe Tryon, and a mountain to climb. Much like the others, she too was beaten eventually in the air, as their spinners tightened the coir.

Tryon tried on with de Klerk, but boundaries were far and few. Aside from Brits, no other batter crossed 20. Bell picked up a couple more in the 19th over, and they eventually ended up 40 short. It secured England's fifth entry in a Women's T20 World Cup final, and extended their winning streak to six.

For the third time now, South Africa have endured a semi-final heartbreak. A "very, very disappointed" Wolvaardt later admitted it was "just not meant to be us today".

Brief scores: England Women 169/5 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 75, Heather Knight 58; Nonkululeko Mlaba 2-25, Shabnim Ismail 2-31) beat South Africa Women 129/8 in 20 overs (Tazmin Brits 51, Laura Wolvaardt 17; Lauren Bell 2-28, Charlie Dean 2-32) by 40 runs