Later this afternoon, Heather Knight’s England come up against their biggest challenge in Group B of the Women’s T20 World Cup: South Africa. The game takes place in Sharjah, where England beat Bangladesh by 21 runs on Saturday defending 119. Despite their lackluster batting display England were backed up by tidy bowling from their spinners, Linsey Smith being the pick of the bunch taking 2-11 in her four overs.
South Africa on the other hand had no such troubles in Dubai, chasing down West Indies’ 118 without losing a wicket, captain, Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits both reaching half centuries in the process!
There is a lot of history going into the fixture as it was the Proteas who knocked England out of 2023’s World Cup at the semi-final stage. Wolvaardt and Brits were again punishing with the bat putting on a 96-run opening partnership that day.
Speaking to SkySports, Linsey Smith said: “They had a really strong win the other day and we’re going to have to be at our best again to take the fight to them and hopefully get another win.”
Ready to go again in Sharjah 🙌
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 7, 2024
Aiming to go 2 from 2 👀#T20WorldCup | #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/x4DUGgxm3K