Key events
WICKET! Mooney c Jafta b Ismail 7 (Australia 24-2)
Ismail is back! She gets a wicket in her return game and she deserves it for her pace and aggression. After Litchfield bagged two boundaries – one with a mighty pull and the other a top edge – Mooney is back on strike and fishing at a wide one. Her feet were stuck on the crease so she chased away from her body, getting a healthy edge that Jafta snaffles. Ismail roars in celebration.
3rd over: Australia 14-1 (Mooney 7, Litchfield 7) Kapp has two left-handers to bowl to so he has to adjust her lines. She’s a little wide to start and is bunted for two singles through the covers, but then she gets a touch tighter and beats Litchfield with a gem that swings late back into the stumps. There’s a scampered single that would have been worth a second look if Wolvaardt at cover had managed a direct hit at the non-striker’s end. Mooney recognised the need to counter attack and smeared the final ball over the infield and found the boundary at cow corner.
2nd over: Australia 7-1 (Mooney 2, Litchfield 5) Ismail is bustling in and finds the edge of Litchfield’s bat with her third ball, but it didn’t bounce much and it shot along the ground between the keeper and first slip for four. Litchfield then charged down the track and was met with a bouncer that smacked her shoulder off an edge. She was lucky that it didn’t balloon up to a fielder. Three dot balls and one single for Mooney at the top of the over means it’s a tidy return for the South African quick.
Shabnim Ismail, who last played for her country on 26 February at the 2023 T20 World Cup final, will open the other end at 37-years-old.
1st over: Australia 1-1 (Mooney 1, Litchfield 0) What a start for the Proteas. Kapp started a little too straight to Mooney and was clipped for a single. Her second ball was a jaffa that almost found the top of Voll’s off-stump, swining away from leg stump. Then she bagged the wicket. It was a poor stroke from the Australian but they all count.
WICKET! Voll c Reyneke v Kapp 0 (Australia 1-1)
South Africa strike in the first over! It’s a little soft from the Aussie opener. A shortish ball was tamely spooned off the back foot towards a diving Reyneke at midwicket who held on as she tumbled to the ground. That wasn’t short enough to play the pull shot and Voll wasn’t able to time it at all.
Looks like Marizanne Kapp, with her strong action and tricky length, will take the new ball.
She is some cricketer. For my money, one of the top five women cricketers of all time. But that’s a chat for another day.
Here she is to Beth Mooney…
Square leg and a cover sweeping the two boundary riders. Fine leg is up. Two catchers – one at first, the other at fourth.
Anthems now.
BTW, Australia are in green. South Africa are in gold.
No, it’s not just you. I don’t like it either.
The sun has come out above Old Trafford. Was looking a little gloomy a few minutes ago but it’s “bright and breezy” as Nasser Hussain has just said on comms.
Everyone in the crowd is wearing a jacket. Looks chilly.
Elyyse Perry is playing her NINTH World Cup.
My goodness. What an absolute legend.
“Every edition is a clean slate,” she says. “Looking across the competition there are so many strong teams.
“Each time you come to a World Cup it’s just about putting your best foot forward.”
Teams
Four spinners for Australia!
[Insert Peep Show reference here.]
Laure Wolvaardt doesn’t mind having a bowl first. One final tournament you’d think for Shabnim Ismail who is back in the side after more than 1,200 days and will tear in with the new ball.
Australia: Beth Mooney (wk), Georgia Voll, PhoebeLitchfield, Ellyse Perry, Ash Gardner, Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Nicola Carey, Sophie Molineux (c), Kim Garth, Alana King.
South Africa: Laure Wolvaardt (c), Sune Luus, Annerie Derksen, Nadine de Klerk, Marizanne Kapp, Chloe Tryon, Kayla Reyneke, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Shabnim Ismail, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka.
Toss: Australia win, bat first
“Will be good to get out there and put a score on,” says Sophie Molineux as the coin flip goes her way.
She reckons the deck will slow up as the match develops.
A win here this afternoon is especially important given the presence of India in the group.
Only the top two teams will progress to the semi-finals.
For so long, Australia sat alone at the top of the pyramid.
It was everyone else who craned their necks up and wondered how they’d hunt down this uncoquerable beast.
Now they have to do the hunting as they look to win back a crown that felt glued to their head.
Martin Pegan sums it up best:
There are a couple of other blogs on the go as we speak.
Tim de Lisle is wrapping up Scotland’s 40-run win over Ireland.
And Tanya Aldred is at Blackpool Cricket Club keeping an eye on all the goings on in the Championship.
I don’t mind if you pop in to either/both. Just be sure to come back.
This might be neutral territory, but that doesn’t mean both teams are starting as equals.
Australia have won 15 of their past 16 women’s T20Is away from home, including each of their last six; their only defeat in that span came in their last meeting with South Africa in the 2024 semi-final.
South Africa have won only one of their past seven women’s T20Is away from home, an 18-run victory against New Zealand in March. They have lost each of their three games since then, the last time they recorded a longer losing run on the road in the format was a four-match span from September 2023 to January 2024.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
Talk about jumping in the deep end.
Australia, the most dominant nation in this competition with six triumphs from nine editions, and South Africa, beaten finalists in 2024 and 2023, get their tournaments underway in this clash of titans.
Most bookies and bots have the Aussies as favourites, but Sophie Molineux will know not to take the Proteas lightly.
Two years ago, Anneke Bosch’s unbeaten 74 from 48 balls led South Africa to a stunning eight-wicket win in the semis in Dubai.
Australia were once unbeaten against South Africa in this format across eight consecutive matches. But it’s the Saffas who have recent history on their side with two victories from their last three encounters.
The Proteas have qualified for the last two finals – they lost to Australia by 19 runs in home soil and then choked in a 32-run defeat to New Zealand. An ageing team will feel this might be their last shot. The Aussies, meanwhile, are out to win back what they’ll feel is theirs by right.
I’m excited for this one! Hope you are too. Ping me a mail with your thoughts.
Things get underway at 2:30pm BST/11:30pm AEDT.
Teams and other bits to come,.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2026/jun/13/australia-v-south-africa-womens-t20-cricket-world-cup-live
About the Author
