🏏ICC Women's T20I WC 2024: Group B - Match 20: EngW vs WIW 🏏 - Page 26

Congratulations to England for winning the match.

Congratulations to Sophie Ecclestone for winning the PoTM award.

Cheers..

Fittingly, it's Nat Sciver-Brunt who hits the winning runs. She's played a gem of an innings here. Chasing 124, Maia Bouchier struggled to find the gap and fell to Kapp inside the powerplay. Alice Capsey, at three, got a reprieve on 0 and she batted positively against the spinners and hit three boundaries before perishing to de Klerk. That's when Nat Sciver-Brunt walked in to join hands with Danielle Wyatt-Hodge. The match was nicely poised but the experienced duo paced the chase superbly. Wyatt-Hodge was dropped twice and was eventually removed by Mlaba but the damage had been done - 64-run partnership for the third wicket. Sciver-Brunt stayed till the end to take her team home as England hunted down the total with 4 balls to spare.

Sophie Ecclestone | Player of the Match - Quite nice to break records, keep it simple and bowl straight, I always bowl with a smile. Two crucial wickets, Kappy and Wolvaardt, they are quality players, we've some world-class players ourselves. Conditions are quite different here and we've done well to get accustomed to it, keep bowling accurately and you'll get the rewards.

Highest targets chased against SA-W in Women’s T20 WC

125 - NZ-W, Taunton, 2009

125 - AUS-W, Gqeberha, 2023

125 - ENG-W, Sharjah, 2024

116 - AUS-W, Sylhet, 2014

103 - AUS-W, Nagpur, 2016

This is also the highest successful run-chase in Women’s T20Is in Sharjah, bettering 111 by SL-W vs PAK-W in 2015.

Most wins as captain in Women T20Is

76 - Meg Lanning (W/L ratio: 4)

70 - Harmanpreet Kaur (W/L ratio: 1.56)

68 - Charlotte Edwards (W/L ratio: 2.83)

68 - Heather Knight (W/L ratio: 3.58)

42 - Chamari Athapaththu (W/L ratio: 0.81)

42 - Laura Delany (W/L ratio: 1.24)

Of the 34 captains who have led in at least 35 Women T20Is, Knight’s win-loss ratio is bettered only by Meg Lanning.

Heather Knight: Really pleased, that was a really controlled win. The way we controlled the middle overs when they were batting and the way we restricted them, the pitch was slightly better than the other day, but felt it was going to be a tricky chase. Has been really tough to chase here. We controlled that chase brilliantly. Nat - very cool and calm head, Danni and that partnership was outstanding to watch. Really pleased (with the spinners), these are the sort of games I actually love captaining because you feel like you can make a real difference and the girls were outstanding again. Sophie (Ecclestone) was back to her best and the way she bowled, she made it really tough. She seems to get a little bit of bounce, I don't know how, really strange on that wicket. Proper performance, really happy with our energy on the field as well. You could see her (Wyatt-Hodge) getting frustrated out there, she's not used to going at 100 SR, but that's what it's going to take sometimes on these pitches. We have talked a lot about it, just finding a way and she did that brilliantly. Really smart options. We don't play till Sunday, quite a big break, time to get away and explore Dubai, we will refocus after a few days off.

Laura Wolvaardt: Obviously very disappointed. 10-20 more runs with the bat could have been interesting, obviously didn't take our chances in the field either. I didn't feel it was as slow as the first couple of games. When we started batting, we were talking about 140. We lost our way a little bit after the powerplay. You can't ask for much more with the new ball, a bit more control from the spinner would have been better. It's so tough to bowl to these batters who have all the shots. It's difficult to set fields. Must-win games for us, both of them can be pretty tough in these conditions, so definitely we have to be on our A-game.

Crucial win for England and they have two wins in as many outings to go to the top of the Group B points table. They bowled 16 overs of spin to restrict South Africa to a par score of 124 and chased it down quite comfortably although the match went till the final over. South Africa were sloppy in the field and the spinners weren't accurate today. They'll be keen to rectify it before their important encounter against West Indies. That's it from this game. Tune in tomorrow for the Group A match between Australia and New Zealand - two unbeaten teams. Same venue and same time.

🏏ICC Women's T20I WC 2024: Group B - Match 11: ScoW vs SAW at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on 09/10/2024 @ 3:30PM IST🏏

The loss to England, and West Indies' recent victory, have pushed South Africa down the table to No.3. And they have a short turnaround in their bid to regain ground. South Africa will be up against Scotland, who have been winless after defeats to Bangladesh and West Indies. They will be hoping to catch South Africa by surprise, as the Laura Wolvaardt-led side will be searching for a NRR-boosting victory.

The decision to promote Anneke Bosch to No.3 didn't work well for South Africa as the batter struggled to a 26-ball 18 and couldn't get a move on in the middle overs. The onus falls on Wolvaardt, Tazmin Brits and Marizanne Kapp to provide the blitz with the bat while South Africa will also be hoping for their spinners to step up and deliver in helpful conditions.

Scotland ran Bangladesh close for most parts of their campaign opener but eventually fell short in a chase of 120. Against West Indies, they could manage only 99, which was chased down with ease. The top order hasn't been consistent for Scotland in this competition and they'll be keen to make amends. Sarah Bryce and skipper Kathryn Bryce are among the key batters in the top three and Scotland will be banking on them to give them a good start.

When: Match 11 - Wednesday, October 9 at 2:00 PM local time

Where: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai

What to expect: In the four matches hosted by Dubai so far, teams chasing have won three times, and did so comfortably barring India's win against Pakistan which took them 18.5 overs in a chase of 106. South Africa know the conditions, having played their opening match against West Indies here, and, as admitted by their captain, prefer Dubai to Sharjah. They might look to chase again, given their bid to improve the Net Run Rate.

Team news:

South Africa: Wolvaardt's side might rejig their batting order by sending Kapp ahead of Bosch. The playing XI, though, might be unchanged.

Probable XI: 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

Scotland: Kathryn Bryce's side has been unchanged for the last two matches and might continue with the same combination

Probable XI: Saskia Horley, Sarah Bryce (wk), Kathryn Bryce (c), Ailsa Lister, Priyanaz Chatterji, Darcey Carter, Lorna Jack, Katherine Fraser, Abtaha Maqsood, Rachel Slater, Olivia Bell