After decades of trying and numerous agonizing semi-final defeats, the South African women’s cricket team has finally broken through. A 125-run thrashing of England, built on the brilliance of Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp, has sent them into their first-ever 50-over World Cup final.
The ghosts of 2017 and 2022 were banished by two of the nation’s greatest servants. Wolvaardt played an innings for the ages, scoring 169. Her 28-ball, 69-run blitz at the end set a massive 319-run total.
Kapp, a veteran of those past heartbreaks, was equally dominant. She took five for 20, starting with a double-wicket maiden that left England at one for three.
Kapp also became the all-time leading World Cup wicket-taker, a fitting personal milestone on a day of national triumph.
England were bowled out for 194, their campaign ending at the hands of a South African team that, after so many years of waiting, has finally seized its moment.