ENGLAND WIN BY SEVEN WICKETS (with 4 balls to spare)

19th over: England 121-3 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Knight 0). Target 125. de Klerk is bowling all back-of-the-hand now and NSB is equal to the task, across her stumps to sweep a boundary just to make sure of England’s position early in this penultimate over. She keeps the strike too, pulling from way outside the off-stump down to midwicket, which will mean she is at the business end with four runs needed from six balls.

WICKET! Wyatt-Hodge st Jafta b Mlaba 43 (43) England 114-3

17th over: England 107-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 38, Sciver-Brunt 36). Target 125. Another dropped catch! It’s the captain at cover, Wyatt-Hodge giving her a chance up and over her right shoulder after lifting a back-of-the-hand slower ball from the bottom of the bat. Wolvaardt’s drop might be it for Proteas with the next ball, pace on, taken by Sciver-Brunt behind square for a clever four. I feel for de Klerk, who has bowled far better than 1/17 from three – a top edge falls safely to finish. 18 from 18 is now the ask. If they can get rid of both of these set batters… well, obviously that’s their only hope.

16th over: England 101-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 37, Sciver-Brunt 31). Target 125. A lot riding on Mlaba now but she can’t quite get it right, letting the set pair score relatively easily to the sweepers on the legside. Seven off leaves 24 from 24. Time for England to ice it.

15th over: England 94-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 33, Sciver-Brunt 28). Target 125. This is such an important over. And the response from Sciver-Brunt – predicting that it was going to be banged into the pitch but ended up a half-tracker, put away for four. Three balls left in her spell. Two now. One. Four more! Not quite as short this time but NSB makes it look like it is, pulling a second boundary. 12 off the over. That should be decisive. Kapp is finished; 1/17 from her overs. Sciver-Brunt, as usual, stands up when it matters.

14th over: England 82-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 32, Sciver-Brunt 17). Target 125. Tryon once again – her third. An important over, effectively the final over needed from their fifth bowler, with Luus helping out with one. Six off, no boundaries threatened and no inch given. With 43 off 36 left, South Africa are now pushing the Marizanne Kapp button.

13th over: England 76-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 31, Sciver-Brunt 12). Target 125. Sune Luus for the first time, which used to be the classic high-risk/high-reward play when she was a volatile legspinner. In theory, it’s a bit different now she’s turned herself into a finger spinner but Wyatt has made her mind up that this is the over she needs to get the game on her terms, taking risks but getting away with it early on before slamming her down the ground for four – a powerful strike. Pulling to deep midwicket she doesn’t quite get as much, bringing Brits into the game running off the rope, but she’s not quite able to get her hands under it – terrific fielding all the game. 10 off the over. The required rate is back to exactly seven an over, which is where I reckon it’ll be with six balls to go.

12th over: England 66-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 24, Sciver-Brunt 9). Target 125. Cat and mouse stuff here, England getting the singles they need to keep the board moving but aren’t willing to risk giving it big to break the chase open. de Klerk has a fine back-of-the-hand change-up and uses it a few times through the over, the last of which came ever so close to a return catch opportunity from Nat Sciver-Brunt. This is on a knife edge.

11th over: England 62-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 22, Sciver-Brunt 7). Target 125. Ohhh, Wyatt clips to backward square but de Klerk elects not to dive after running in off the rope – she saves the subsequent runs but was that a chance to take a defining catch? Seven runs from the Khaka over, which is exactly what they need. She has one still to bowl, Kapp as well. It’ll be of critical importance for South Africa when those two overs are used.

“G’day Adam.” Hello, Simon McMahon. Having already lost to Bangladesh and the Windies, I fear for Scotland’s women against both these sides. Still, ‘good experience’, right? Regarding this game, it’s looking like it could be a close one. Tell me, will there be a SUPER OVER if the scores are level at the end.”

Scotland are unlikely to win a game but the experience of being at a World Cup, qualifying the way that they did, is considerable. Given this tournament expands in 2026, we will be seeing plenty of them in the years to come on the big stage. As for tonight… I’m with you, the Super Over feels almost inevitable, doesn’t it?

10th over: England 55-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 21, Sciver-Brunt 2). Target 125. They are looking to scoop Mlaba at every opportunity but are yet to take a boundary off her. Last ball here, four from it, and four it will stay with NSB unable to beat short fine. So, it’s drinks at the halfway mark of the chase. England require 70 from 60 balls from here – I won’t undermine your intelligence by telling you what the required rate therefore is.

9th over: England 51-2 (Wyatt-Hodge 18, Sciver-Brunt 1). Target 125. de Klerk came ever so close to bowling Wyatt earlier in the over, who responded to that fortune by playing her best shot: a carve over the top of point for four. It’s to the credit of the South African seamer that it was then that she turned to her slower ball and got her reward. It does bring Nat Sciver-Brunt to the middle though: England’s most reliable matchwinner.

WICKET! Capsey c&b de Klerk 19 (16) England 50-2

8th over: England 40-1 (Wyatt-Hodge 13, Capsey 18). Target 125. Tryon again? Alright. Capsey is cool with that, dancing then lofting over extra cover for four – good cricket. Into the pitch works at Wyatt, picking out point a couple of times. Handy dots. A shovel to midwicket nearly brings two but Jafta, the ‘keeper, charges after it to deny a second. The required rate from here is just over seven an over. This is set up for a thriller.

7th over: England 33-1 (Wyatt-Hodge 12, Capsey 12). Target 125. Nonkululeko Mlaba for some more left-arm orthodox with the field now back. I’m a bit surprised they didn’t stick with pace given how well it was going to this point. Capsey is into the bag of tricks right away, scooping a couple then trying it again and getting another via an edge. Wyatt-Hodge’s turn and she’s sweeping too. The game has changed entirely since spin was introduced, with these two enjoying the change of gear. Still, only five off.

6th over: England 28-1 (Wyatt-Hodge 11, Capsey 9). Target 125. Spin for the first time via Chloe Tryon; left-arm tweakers. And nearly another chance! DWH saw it short and flat-batted over cover but only just. A half-tracker to Capsey prompts a more convincing shot, pulled for four – a settler. Tryon responds with a dart at middle stump, kept out. Plenty riding on every ball with the field set to go back in a few balls time. Full again, sweep… four more! That’s a top shot from Capsey, who I remind you was dropped third ball, before scoring, in the previous over – how that might define this match. 12 off it.

5th over: England 16-1 (Wyatt-Hodge 8, Capsey 0). Target 125. Alice Capsey in at No3 with plenty to do… and she’s put down third ball! Bosch at backward point could’ve made it a double wicket maiden, steered off the face – not a tough chance. Oh dear. It’s still a brilliant wicket maiden from South Africa’s number one but ever so close to something very special. Surely they bowl her through from here? Game on.

WICKET! Bouchier lbw b Kapp 8 (20) England 16-1

IS BOUCHIER LBW TO KAPP? Yes says the ump, review says the batter. Up we go!

4th over: England 16-0 (Bouchier 8, Wyatt-Hodge 8). Target 125. Khaka goes again. Quick single first ball, direct hit! Bouchier is home, the third ump confirms, but it’s further evidence that the South Africans are all over this. Four singles to begin the over, which is not for nothing given all the dots in the first three overs. Wyatt-Hodge, starved of the strike so far, has to wait as they replace one of those zing balls (not for me). Anyway, Khaka is a bowler she knows well, confident enough to dance at her to lift over mid-off for four. Eight off the over, and some confidence with it for England.

3rd over: England 8-0 (Bouchier 6, Wyatt-Hodge 2). Target 125. Bouchier is battling to get it out of the fielding circle here, timing a couple of balls straight to offside fielders. They take out second slip to throw another fielder in the ring and she picks another outin turn. 2 from 13, two balls to go. Make that 2 off 14 – beaten by a Kapp gem, hitting the seam, ever so close to the edge. Last ball here, will Bouchier try something? She does! Dancing and connecting, over mid-on for four. What a relief that’ll be.

2nd over: England 3-0 (Bouchier 2, Wyatt-Hodge 1). Target 125. Khaka starts with a booming inswinger to Wyatt-Hodge, who has to play it with respect. It was in the UAE that Khaka took a T20 5fa in the FairBreak Invitational a couple of years ago – a tournament I was working on. It was the same there was no pace at all but she was able to get it hoopoing around consistently, proving a nightmare in the power play. Super stuff from the get-go to Bouchier too after Wyatt gets off-strike – she’s now absorbed nine got balls to start her innings, yikes. Last ball here, will she have a dart at it? Ohh – she does! Dance, inside edge, just missed the stumps – she’s off the mark with two. The Proteas are all over them here but they have to add an early wicket next.

1st over: England 0-0 (Bouchier 0, Wyatt-Hodge 0). Target 125. Inside edge second ball! So close to the woodwork. No pace to work with here, Bouchier is nearly sorted out by movement in the air back towards the stumps. Kapp, so clever, follows it with an outswinger. Oooh, and another of those with the fifth ball here brings a conventional play-and-miss. Super start this. Maiden complete! What a cricketer, Marizanne Kapp.

Marizanne Kapp has the new ball. What a competitive. Maia Bouchier is waiting for her, with Danni Wyatt-Hodge down the non-strikers’ end. PLAY!

It’ll be a very different approach from South Africa with the ball. England went with just Sciver-Brunt’s medium pace followed by four spinners. For the Proteas, they’ll have at least four seamers in operation here including Marizanne Kapp, who for most of the last ten years has been the top-ranked T20i bowler in the world. From there, watch for Ayabonga Khaka’s in-swinger with the new ball and Nadine de Klerk’s outswing throughout. But Wyatt-Hodge loves to cut and slap; they must bowl straight.

This is set up nicely. 125 doesn’t look a daunting target but boundaries are so difficult to come by on these slow pitches. To put it into context, it’s seven more than they were able to get against Bangladesh on this ground two days ago. England’s four spinners did well to drag it back in the middle overs after the Proteas got out of the blocks well, but the final few overs went the way of the batting team. This should be fun. Back shortly.

England require 125 to win

WICKET! Luus run out (Sciver-Brunt) 1 (2) South Africa 114-6

19th over: South Africa 114-5 (Dercksen 11, Luus 1) Ecclestone has bowled superbly, varying her pace in the best tradition of clever finger spinners – they don’t stand a chance of taking her out to the rope, four off. Ecclestone finishes with 2/15. Standard.

WICKET! Kapp b Ecclestone 26 (17) South Africa 110-5

18th over: South Africa 110-4 (Kapp 26, Dercksen 8) BOOM! Smith did everything right until the final ball when Annerie Dercksen slot-swept her outside the off-stump over midwicket into the crowd! That’s the first six of the night and at the ideal time.

WICKET! Tryon b Dean 2 (5) South Africa 99-4

16th over: South Africa 89-3 (Kapp 14, Tryon 1) Ecclestone to Tryon is a proper contest, and the points go to the spinner from this initial interaction: a yorker squeezed to point then a well-flighted alternative pushed to cover. It does mean Tryon keeps the strike though with Dean about to bowl to a player who will want to smash with the spin.

WICKET! Wolvaardt b Ecclestone 42 (39) South Africa 88-3

15th over: South Africa 85-2 (Wolvaardt 42, Kapp 11) Sciver-Brunt returns and Kapp takes her opportunity to work with some pace early on, crunching over extra cover for a classy boundary. Some player. Later in the over she had a dart at the same shot but doesn’t quite middle it, giving Knight the chance to dive away to her left and drag it down – that saves at least a couple. Ten off though; the best over of the innings. From here, South Africa are set up to get up above 120, which will take some chasing.

14th over: South Africa 75-2 (Wolvaardt 40, Kapp 3) Kapp slaps her first ball past point for a couple that was very nearly a run out! Wolvaardt was happy with the one but Kapp was coming back but the throw went to the wrong end – not to be for England in the field, once again. The game feels different right away with Kapp out there, middling a single down the ground. Eight runs (and the wicket) from the over. Better.

WICKET! Bosch b Glenn 18 (26) South Africa 71-2

13th over: South Africa 67-1 (Wolvaardt 39, Bosch 14) We’ve hit the point where it’s in South Africa’s interest to lose a wicket to give Chloe Tryon and Marizane Kapp a crack – a point made on TV too. Smith returns, no boundaries, seven off. It’s not been 44 balls since the last time South Africa found the rope. Should they retire Bosch out?

12th over: South Africa 60-1 (Wolvaardt 37, Bosch 9) Facing four spinners, a T20 innings can get away from a batting team pretty quickly and that’s the risk for South Africa unless they can start to assert themselves again. You can see Wolvaardt trying to do that using her feel to Glenn but it’s all singles here once again. Another leg before shout comes at the end of the over, with Bosch again unable to make contact on the sweep, but it’s given not out and Knight indicates that she thought it was missing off-stump so they don’t refer it. England’s spinners have been excellent since the power play, conceding just 25 runs in the next seven overs. Knight is turning the screws nicely.

11th over: South Africa 56-1 (Wolvaardt 35, Bosch 7) Shout for leg before from the first ball after drinks… turned down. It’s Ecclestone asking the question and Bosch missing her sweep – they don’t review due to the height height. I thought that was out? We get a second look thanks to TV and it was umpires’ call – fair enough. Before you know it, Ecclestone has already reached the final ball of the over with just two singles conceded – she’s brilliant at getting back to her mark and keeping the pressure on. Bosch can’t beat midwicket to finish – she’s 7 from 18, which is becoming a problem after South Africa’s (relatively) brisk start, their run rate now down to just over five an over.

10th over: South Africa 54-1 (Wolvaardt 34, Bosch 6) Watching that drop back between overs, it was the most straightforward of the four with Ecclestone getting a good look and meeting the ball above knee height in her dive. Back to Glenn who races through another frugal set, Bosch unable to get her out of the fielding ring. Wolvaardt gets her chance from the final ball of the over and places out to deep midwicket, calling through a second run – it looks a chance for England but the throw isn’t good enough. Drinks!

9th over: South Africa 51-1 (Wolvaardt 32, Bosch 5) Charlie Dean has three back on the legside now and bowls to that field, Wolvaardt unable to put away a drag down with a fielder at backward square. And another drop to finish! Sophie Ecclestone puts down Bosch on the edge of the circle at mid-off. The theme continues with this being a tough opportunity having to time her dive well, but none of the four have stuck so far.

8th over: South Africa 45-1 (Wolvaardt 28, Bosch 3) Now Sarah Glenn, the fourth spinner for England – their leggie. Expect her to attack the stumps with the field back. And so she does, three singles – Heath Knight is on camera and visibly happy with that.

7th over: South Africa 42-1 (Wolvaardt 26, Bosch 2) Another drop for England! Ecclestone, the best bowler in the world, finds Wolvaardt’s edge first ball when looking to cut and it doesn’t end up in Amy Jones’ gloves. Another tough chance – they always are when a batter is cutting deep in the crease, but we’re conditioned to Jones making those look easy. Five runs off Ecclestone without losing a wicket is a great result given what she normally does to teams in the middle overs. Wolvaardt is up for this.

6th over: South Africa 37-1 (Wolvaardt 22, Bosch 1) Shoooot! Laura Wolvaardt made her name at this level during the 2017 World Cup in England as a teenager when she played some of the best drives of the competition. Well, here’s another of those through extra cover, threading Smith through the ring for the shot of the night so far. She retains the strike with a single down the ground – six runs and the wicket off the over. All told, the Proteas would be happy with where they are placed as the field drops back.

WICKET! Brits c Gibson b Smith 13 (19). South Africa 31-1

5th over: South Africa 31-0 (Wolvaardt 17, Brits 13) That’s a dropped catch from Sarah Glenn at short fine leg, Britts shoveling a sweep off the shoulder of the bat. The fielder did well to get to the contest diving forward but wasn’t able to keep it off the turf – that’s the second half-chance England have had from the opener. Later in the over at Wolvaardt, Dean pushes past her outside edge with extra pace, just missing the off-stump. To finish the over, the South African skipper gives the spinner her stumps when backing away to leg and has enough elevation to clear point for a couple.

4th over: South Africa 28-0 (Wolvaardt 15, Brits 12) Sciver-Brunt returns and the pace is to the delight of Wolvaardt, who muscles a pull shot through midwicket for four. This is turning into a very good start for the Proteas, four singles here on top of the boundary.

3rd over: South Africa 20-0 (Wolvaardt 9, Brits 10) Charlie Dean’s turn. Aside from Sciver-Brunt it’ll be all spin tonight, with Dean the off spin option for Heather Knight. Super accurate and able to alter her pace from ball to ball, she’s going to be a handful on these surfaces. Three dots are followed by a cut for a couple by Brits. That shot prompts an overcorrection, too straight to finish and swept behind square for four. Six from the over doesn’t feel like loads but every run-a-ball over is a win on these slow pitches.

2nd over: South Africa 14-0 (Wolvaardt 9, Brits 4) The call to prayer goes out as the sun starts to set in Sharjah. Over number two will be Linsey Smith. England’s left-arm spinner was great against Bangladesh, especially early. But Wolvaardt makes room first ball, enough to crunch her through cover for four – top shot. Smith finds her range soon enough. As Lydia Greenway notes on telly, Smith’s story is an important one, forcing her way back into this side in her late 20s after spending the last five years in the wilderness after initially playing at the T20 World Cup back in 2018. It speaks volumes about how strong the England domestic system has become that she’s had the chance to bounce back into the side at this stage of her career, now at the peak of her powers. She sneaks past Brits’ inside edge later in the over, prompting a leg before shout, but it’s sliding past the leg stump and they elect not to review. Eight from the over.

1st over: South Africa 6-0 (Wolvaardt 4, Brits 1) Lovely shot first ball of the match, Wolvaardt using what pace there is to steer behind point for three; complete control. Ooh, dropped catch next up with Knight, back at first slip with Jones up to the stumps, unable to drag it in moving to her right. Not an easy chance; Brits gets a life right away. NSB misses down the legside but then gets back on target soon enough, so much so that Brits is nearly bowled shouldering arms! An eventful first over comes to an end.

Nat Sciver-Brunt has the new ball. England’s one seamer. She’s up against Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits with Amy Jones up to the stumps right away. PLAY!

Here come the players. Out to the middle for the national anthems, set to the ICC anthem, which is now a thing – seriously. South Africa’s anthem has to be right at the top of the tree from those used by international cricket teams – certainly those that make it to World Cups on a regular basis. They’re belting it out. The Proteas have been so close in these global tournaments over the last few years. If they can get up here, and set up a semi-final against Anyone But Australia, they’ll be in great shape once again.

The scores in the first innings at Sharjah so far in this comp: 119-7, 116, 93-7, 118-7.

With that framing, we go out to the pitch report with Nat Germanos. She tells us that it is 36 degrees outside and that they’re using a strip that makes one boundary a fraction shorter square of the wicket. Lisa Sthlaker reinforces that it’ll be spin to win out there.

England: Maia Bouchier, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Heather Knight (c), Alice Capsey, Amy Jones (wk), Danielle Gibson, Sophie Ecclestone, Charlie Dean, Sarah Glenn, Linsey Smith.

South Africa: Laura Wolvaardt (c), Tazmin Brits, Marizanne Kapp, Anneke Bosch, Sune Luus, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Sinolo Jafta (wk), Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka.

South Africa have won the toss and have elected to bat

Preamble

Adam Collins