Team Australia in action© X (Twitter)
Australia will start as overwhelming favourites in their quest for an unprecedented eighth final appearance when they take on South Africa in the semi-final of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Dubai on Thursday. Australia have now made it to the semi-finals of the global T20 tournament in all its nine editions held so far since 2009 in England. The six-time champions take on the Proteas women in a last-four clash in what seems to be a repeat of the summit showdown during the 2023 edition in South Africa, which the Southern Stars won by 19 runs.
Going by pure statistic, South Africa are no match for Australia who have won nine out of the 10 WT20I games, with the former's only win coming in January this year.
The head-to-head record at Women's T20 World Cup is even more intimidating as Australia have won all the seven encounters. The best part about the current Australian team is the core which has remained intact for years now with only Meg Lanning retiring from international cricket.
All the 10 others, who played in the 2023 final are here with the likes of Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Ashleigh Gardner being the pillars of the team.
On a slow Dubai track, the depth in batting has been Australia's biggest strength, with Phoebe Litchfield and Annabel Sutherland capable of muscling the balls to the fence. For South Africa, one of their biggest assets has been slow left-arm orthodox Nonkululeko Mlaba, who has so far taken 10 wickets in four group league games.
Skipper Laura Wolvaardt, her opening partner Taznim Brits and the seasoned Marizanne Kapp are all match-winners in their own rights but they have always come up short against Healy and company.
Hopefully, the Proteas women would be eighth time lucky against familiar foes in their bid to win the maiden global T20 trophy.
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