Only 41 overs were possible tonight. And while the chronicler should always endeavour to avoid hyperbole, ordinary words are barely adequate to describe what occurred. Suffice it to say that South Africa ended the round-robin as they began it, with excessive aggression and a calamitous collapse. Wolvaardt batted brightly for a quick 31, Sinalo Jafta hit out aggressively for 29 off just 17 balls. And the rest? The rest was all about Alana King. If you thought her last day spell in the Ashes was sublime, then tonight she effortlessly surpassed herself. Her seven overs produced 7/18. And you could not say that she was to any degree fortunate.
She attacked the stumps with ferocity, drifting the ball into the pads and having it spin past the bat like a striking cobra. Three of her wickets were catches. The other four were clean-bowled. The secret – aside from the sublimity of her leg-spinners – was that she varied the amount of spin: anywhere from two to eight degrees of turn. The batsmen could not even begin to guess where to place a defensive bat. King was possibly fortunate in having a somewhat piebald pitch on which to bowl; but that is neither here nor there. Nobody else in the match could make the ball turn somersaults. It was leg-spin bowling to bring the ghost of SK Warne back from the afterlife to applaud, without reservation. As did we all.
Chasing 98, Australia lost Litchfield and Perry early; but Voll and Mooney soon put the game to rest. Mooney was out to a superb catch by Wolvaardt, but Sutherland finished the game with two fours and a two. Australia will play India; and South Africa England. There are two matches of no consequence whatever tomorrow, and whatever happens the fixture is immutable. India did manage to secure fourth place yesterday with an impressive win over New Zealand, who won the toss and decided to field. Their bowlers and fielders wilted in the broiling sun, and India ran up a vast score, Mandhana, Pratika and Rodrigues hitting the ball anywhere they pleased. Set 325 to win in 44 overs (D/L) New Zealand made a creditable fist of the chase without threatening at any point to win. Brooke Halliday’s 80-odd was a fine effort. They may be the reigning T20 World champions, but their 50-over game needs work.