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Laura Wolvaardt praises Bosch's amazing performance
Laura Wolvaardt praises Bosch's amazing performance
Anneke Bosch scored 74* off just 48 balls, scoring eight fours and a six.
The women's T20 World Cup is going on in which in the semifinals South Africa has gotten a historic win against Australia. Until October 17, the South African women's cricket team had never won a T20 World Cup match against the six-time champions. Most people didn't think they would change that in this game, but Anneke Bosch's incredible performance helped South Africa make history and reach their second straight T20 World Cup final. Bosch scored 74 runs off 48 balls, giving a memorable performance that surprised both her critics and the other team.
After the match, there will be a press conference in which Captain Laura Wolvaardt was praising the Bosch's performance in the match. Wolvaardt was mostly at the other end during their 96-run partnership, which gave her a great view of Bosch's impressive performance. The key to their partnership and South Africa's victory was their strong intent throughout the chase. Bosch set the tone with her batting, proving that moving her up to number three in the order was a smart decision, even though some people questioned it because Marizanne Kapp had been doing well in that spot.
She said the performance Bosch gave was unbelievable, it was the first innings of her career and she chooses the great time to bring that out. She added she practised with bats in the nets and they all have seen her these shots before too. She bowed that well.
"We knew we only had one wicket down, so it felt like a free hit for both of us to keep going and score runs as quickly as we could."
Although Bosch's innings surprised experts and Australia, Wolvaardt downplayed the 'shock' factor, stating that the coaching staff always believed in the young batter. There was never any doubt about Bosch's talent and variety of strokes; it was just about how well she executed them. Wolvaardt felt that in this innings, the 31-year-old met all the criteria for a perfect performance.
"I think if you look at the first few games of the tournament, Australia would have been quite surprised. She hasn't had the best tournament so far, so to come out and play the way she did was impressive.
"I believe she chose much better options today. Her sweeps were really effective, and that reverse shot was pretty cool. It was great to watch from the other end."
Besides South Africa's strong batting, a key talking point from the first semi-final was how easy it seemed for the chasing team to score runs for the second game in a row in Dubai. In the previous match, the West Indies had unexpectedly defeated England in a similar fashion. The 2021 men’s T20 World Cup was notable for the importance of the toss, as dew became a significant factor later in the matches. While it hasn’t played as big a role in this tournament, the last two games in Dubai reminded everyone of that event. It also helped South Africa that they had played three of their four group matches at this venue, while Australia had only played one. Wolvaardt recognized the advantage of familiarity.
"I think the venue suits us better as a team. Sharjah is very slow, light, and spins a lot. When our opening bowlers perform well, we all feed off that energy. As a batting unit, we also prefer when the ball comes onto the bat more easily, and it does that better here than in Sharjah."
While this result is both satisfying and unprecedented, Wolvaardt chose to stay grounded. After all, South Africa had reached the final in the previous edition as well, only to lose to Australia. Although they may have crossed a major hurdle, Wolvaardt preferred to focus on the present. This will be South Africa's second final this year, as the men's team also made it to the championship match earlier in June.
"Of course, it's very satisfying. It always feels like Australia is that last hurdle we need to get over, and now we’ve finally done that. But I’m feeling a bit mixed; I don't want to get too excited because we still have a big game ahead. So I think we'll celebrate a bit tonight and then focus on tomorrow."
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