Women's T20 World Cup: South Africa survive Bangladesh scare, make India's semi-final race tougher

South Africa managed to stay alive in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 with a four-wicket win over Bangladesh in Match 29 on Sunday, June 28 at Lord's, London.

After opting to bat first, Bangladesh could only reach 117/5 in their 20 overs with Sobhana Mostary (42 off 48) top-scoring, while captain Nigar Sultana (32* off 20) gave the much-needed finish to the innings. For South Africa, Nonkululeko Mlaba was the pick of the bowlers with her two wickets.

In reply, South Africa faced several hiccups in their run chase but eventually got over the line in 19.2 overs with Annerie Dercksen top-scoring, and a handy contribution from Nadine de Klerk (15 off 14). Meanwhile, following their win, South Africa moved to second place in the Group A points table with eight points from five matches.

They’re now dependent on India’s loss in their last fixture against Australia to move into the semi-finals. However, if India manage to win their last game, they will advance ahead, and South Africa will get knocked out. 

On the other hand, Bangladesh finished the tournament on fourth place in Group A with four points from five matches.

Top run-scorer of the Match

Top wicket-taker of the Match

Player of the Match

Marizanne Kapp was adjudged Player of the Match for her brilliant bowling spell. She got the crucial scalp of Juairiya Ferdous, dismantling her stumps on the very first delivery of the match. Kapp finished with economical figures of 1/9 in four overs and also made a valuable contribution of 16 (21) in the run chase.

Turning Point

Bangladesh didn’t get off to a good start to their innings as Marizanne Kapp removed Juairiya Ferdous on the very first delivery. As a result, they struggled to score freely in the powerplay, accumulating just 26 runs in their first seven overs. It became a major turning point in the game as Bangladesh had to settle for a below-par score, which eased the pressure on South Africa during their run chase.

What did the captains say:

Winning Captain, Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa women):

Not the way we would have liked to finish it. Probably got a bit closer than it needed to be, but happy to walk away with the win. (On the bowling performance) I think we were excellent. I think we started really well with the ball. The powerplay was so good from our veterans. Probably let them get a little bit too many at the end there. Would have liked to restrict them to 100 or less. I think if we're chasing 140, it would have been a tricky chase. (On playing Bangladesh spinners) They've got some really slow spinners. It's always going to be tough in slow wickets, when they're really slowing it down like that. I think today we maybe went in our shells a little bit, so maybe just try to knock it around. (On watching India vs Australia) I will be in the audience. We will be watching the next game, go Aussies!

Losing Captain, Nigar Sultana (Bangladesh women):

 I guess we lost wickets early in the power play, but the bowlers played really well there. They were hanging there and trying to build a partnership. And I think we couldn't get runs in the middle part of the game. We finished it really well in the last few overs of the first innings. But end of the time, I think we are short of 10 to 15 runs, and it actually cost us the campaign as a whole. I think I should thank all my bowlers and fielders because how they fought till the last ball, and they were keep fighting for the last run. So it really made me feel very proud about the team. And we came here to win games definitely. And we win two games here, but we wanted more. I think it's a huge achievement for the team. And I'm really proud the way each and everyone gave their 100% in the field and tried to win for Bangladesh.