South Africa Women vs Pakistan Women, 11th Match, Group A, ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 - CommentaryRSAW vs PAKW, 11th Match, Group A, ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 - Commentary

A couple of one-sided affairs earlier in the day - Australia stormed to victory against Bangladesh with more than 10 overs to spare while India conquered Netherlands by 95 runs. The way this game was going with Pakistan all at sea at 50/8, it felt like another lop-sided affair was on the cards but there was a spark from Pakistan. Fatima Sana's fifty in a crisis situation must have lifted the spirits in their camp but it can't be denied that 126 was still a below-par score even on a slightly sluggish surface. If they had scored 20-25 more runs, it could have been a different story altogether. Their tentative fielding was a definite chink in the armour too. Low-scoring games do tend to punch above their weights and this one was a prime example. The T20 World Cup caravan continues to roll as West Indies will take on Scotland in a Group B contest tomorrow. Join us nice and early to catch all the action. Until next time, goodbye and cheers!

Wolvaardt (2/2): (On Dercksen and on her ability to take the game on) The power she has is incredible. She's able to hit even really slow bowlers for big sixes, so it's awesome to have that in our lineup. The intent she came out with was exactly what this chase needed. It's easy to go into your shell when you're only chasing 120 and the wicket is slow and turning. I thought she played excellently and took a lot of pressure off the rest of the batting lineup. (On their next game against India and the learnings they can take from this game) It was quite slow today and we faced a lot of spin. I imagine Manchester will be pretty similar, and India have some quality spinners as well. It's probably back to the drawing board to see how we can play those situations better. We can take some learnings from Annerie's innings and Nadine's innings. They played it really well, and we'll take it from there.

Laura Wolvaardt | South Africa captain: (1/1) (On kickstarting their campaign with two points) Definitely. Points in the bag are all that matters today. It was a little scratchy and not the way we would have liked, but there are still lots of positives to take out of it. We'll take those and move on. (On Kapp leading the way with a special effort in the powerplay) It was a lovely way to start the game. Setting the tone with a wicket on the first ball was important. I think Kappie was excellent, and I thought Shabnim was great today as well. It was nice to have them bowling in tandem up front and setting up the innings like that. (What could she have done differently as a captain when Pakistan fought back with the bat?) We knew Fatima was still there, so we tried our best to keep her off strike for as long as we could and bowl as much as possible to the other batters. I think we did well to keep her as quiet as we did. She's played innings against us before where she's hurt us a lot more than she did today. We probably could have executed a little better at the death, but she batted really well. At the end of the day, we were happy chasing 120.

Fatima Sana | Pakistan captain: I think we just couldn't finish the game. The fight was there and the effort was there, but we couldn't finish it. (On her 71-run partnership with Tuba Hassan) We just tried to take the game deep because we know we have the capability, and Tuba has the capability as well. We tried to take it deep and execute our plans. (On whether she should bat higher up in the order) That was a team decision. We sat together and discussed these things. It was a team decision, so we adjusted accordingly. (On scoring a fifty and taking three wickets and on her captaincy role) I'm enjoying the role, but we still need to win games. I'm enjoying it, but there's still a long way to go. (On handling pressure better in the next game?) Definitely. We need to stay calm in the field, especially when the momentum is against us. We need to be calmer in those situations, and we'll try to improve and execute better next time.

Annerie Dercksen | Player of the Match: (On her first Women's T20 World Cup fifty) Glad that we got the win, to be honest. I think I might die like 30 years earlier because of this team (chuckles)! But I'm very proud of the team and the resilience we showed to pull that game through. (On scoring her first T20I fifty on a tough tour to New Zealand and how did that experience help her?) The conditions were quite different, but it was nice to have something to fall back on as a reference point. The conditions today were very different from New Zealand, but as I said, I'm glad everyone chipped in. It was a real team effort today. I thought the bowlers bowled extremely well, so it was a complete team effort. (On whether her role in the team is to take the game on?) The coaches have given me the freedom to play my game. Once we identified that this was probably my matchup (taking on Shamim), I went after it. I'm glad it came off today. As I said, it was a big team effort. I was disappointed to get out at the end and would have liked to finish the job for the team, but I'm very proud of the rest of the batting lineup for getting us through. (How special is it to perform for your country?) It's quite surreal. I got to bat with Laura and Kapp, who were my heroes growing up. That middle period, batting with Kappie, was really important. She was able to guide me through it and give me solid options when I felt we were under a bit of pressure. It was a great experience, and all credit goes to the rest of my team.

Fatima Sana is the first captain to score 50+ and pick 3 wickets in a Women’s T20 World Cup match.

50+ scores & 3+ wickets in a Women’s T20 WC match
(62 & 3) - Hayley Matthews vs SL, Gros Islet, 2018
(61* & 3) - Sune Luus vs THA, Canberra, 2020
(55 & 3) - Shafali Verma vs NED, Leeds, 2026
(55* & 3) - Fatima Sana vs SA, Birmingham, 2026*

Lowest win margin in WT20 WCs (in wickets)
By 2 wkts - ENG vs IND, Dharamsala, 2016
By 1 wkts - ENG vs WI, Dharamsala, 2016
By 2 wkts - SA vs PAK, Birmingham, 2026*

SA-W has won all four of their T20 World Cup games against PAK-W.

SA-W batters playing sweep shots vs Spin today
Shots attempted: 6
Runs: 17
Dismissal: 1 (Wolvaardt)
Single one
Four 4s
SR: 283.33

21:42 Local Time, 20:42 GMT, 02:12 IST: South Africa made life difficult for themselves but they have kept their calm in the end to get over the line. It turned out to be a low-scoring thriller - the Pakistani spinners almost derailed the chase with their guile on a slightly sluggish surface. Earlier in the game, South Africa were all over Pakistan as they reduced them to 50/8. But a terrific counter-attacking 71-run stand between Fatima Sana and Tuba Hassan enabled Pakistan to put up a fighting total on the board. Fatima was the star as she struck a brilliant fifty under pressure to spark hopes in the Pakistani camp. In response, Luus fell cheaply and the duo of Wolvaardt and Dercksen displayed some nerves early on. But, the momentum shifted when Dercksen took on Shamim in the 5th over and scored 21 runs off her. Wolvaardt fell uncharacteristically while attempting a sweep and that opened things up. Dercksen kept moving and notched up a brilliant fifty. But soon after, Kapp and Dercksen fell in a space of six deliveries. The lower-order felt the pressure and made mistakes as Pakistan kept chipping away at the wickets. Amidst all this, Nadine de Klerk played a more than handy cameo under pressure and took her side to the brink of victory. She fell when the scores were level. Pakistan were two wickets away but a wide from Sana meant that there was no further drama...

Fatima Sana to Nadine de Klerk, THATS OUT!! Caught!!