Cricket - Women's Cricket T20 World Cup - Australia v South Africa - Dubai International Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates - October 17, 2024 South Africa's Anneke Bosch and Chloe Tryon celebrate after the match REUTERS/Satish Kumar
DUBAI (Reuters) -Anneke Bosch's unbeaten 74 off 48 balls led South Africa to an emphatic eight-wicket victory over defending champions Australia on Thursday and a place in the women's Twenty20 World Cup final.
Chasing 135, Bosch and Proteas captain Laura Wolvaardt shared a 96-run partnership as South Africa registered their first ever T20 World Cup win over Australia.
South Africa won the toss and dismissed Australian opener Grace Harris and Georgia Wareham within the first three overs before wicketkeeper Beth Mooney and captain Tahlia McGrath showed resilience in a 50-run stand.
McGrath made 27 and Mooney was six-times champions Australia's top scorer with 44 off 42 balls in a modest total of 134-5.
South Africa lost opener Tazmin Brits (15) in the fifth over before Bosch and Wolvaardt came together and showed positive intent.
Wolvaardt was deceived by Annabel Sutherland's slower ball to depart for 42 but Bosch, named player of the match, saw her side home.
"My heart is racing a lot, it was tough out there, glad we got past the line," Bosch said.
"I'm happy to have contributed some runs. It means a lot, can't describe, we knew we were capable, had a pretty good tournament coming into the game."
McGrath admitted South Africa had fully deserved the victory.
"It's going to be pretty hard to take," she said. "We just didn't really show up tonight. You can't afford to do that in tournaments like this. Full credit to South Africa. They outplayed us tonight."
South Africa will next face West Indies or New Zealand, who meet in the second semi-final on Friday.
The final, the first in either women's World Cup format not to feature Australia or England, will be played on Sunday.
(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
