Another final, another step in the right direction for South Africa

Another final, another step in the right direction for South Africa

The South African women's under-19 team has reached the final of the T20 World Cup. They beat Australia by five wickets with 11 balls to spare in their semifinal in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Key contributors

Left-arm spinner Ashleigh van Wyk took 4/17 in three overs to limit the Aussies to a total of 105/8. Jemma Botha's 37, Kayla Reyneke's 26 and Karabo Meso's 19 powered the chase.

India awaits in the final

India beat England by nine wickets in the other semi. The final will be at the same venue on Sunday.

Challenging but possible

India have won all of their six matches by wide margins. South Africa are also unbeaten but their victories haven't been as emphatic.

A sweet journey

Eleven of the 15 teenagers in the Newlands President's Suite on January 5 are part of the team that has reached the final. They had been capped and blazered at the event.

A big step

This achievement is a reminder that the SA20, which will complete its league stage on Sunday, isn't the only good thing happening in the game in the country.

Consistent performance

This is the fifth global final South Africa have reached from February 2023. They were also in the men's version of the senior women's T20 World Cup at Kensington Oval in June last year, and in the women's showdown in Dubai less than four months later. In June they will be at Lord's for the WTC final.

Central to success

Enoch Nkwe, CSA’s director of national teams and high performance, and Eddie Khoza, their domestic cricket executive, have been central to this success.

The next challenge

The South Africans have taken a rare route to Sunday's final. Across genders, age groups and formats, Australia have won 63 of their 90 knockout games in ICC events. That's 70%. Indeed, the South Africans have won only two of the 10 knockouts they have played against the Aussies.

ICC knockout records

India have won 49 of their 81 ICC knockout matches, all told. That's a success rate of 60.49%. So they are not as ruthless as the Australians at crunch time.

But South Africa and India have clashed in seven sudden-death showdowns, and India have won every time. Will that equation change on Sunday? Weather permitting, we'll know before lunch.