ICC Women's World Cup 2017: 5 things that went wrong for South Africa in the semi-final

The hosts, England, on Tuesday, booked their berth in the final of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 after they beat South Africa in the first Semi Final at Bristol. South Africa, on the other hand, had to deal with another heartbreak as they found themselves on the wrong side of a World Cup Knock out match once again.

Batting first, South Africa could only manage 221/6 in their fifty overs. Mignon du Preez top scored with an unbeaten 75 while Laura Wolvaardt played a decent knock of 66 as well. Meanwhile, each of the English bowlers in Anya Shrubsole, Natalie Sciver, Heather Knight and Jenny Gunn picked up a wicket each.

England began the chase on a positive note with the openers, Lauren Winfield and Tammy Beaumont, putting up an opening stand of 48 runs at a run-a-ball. However, they departed soon and the innings was recovered by a superb partnership between Sarah Taylor and Heather Knight.

The South African bowlers, though, came back into the match strongly as England lost wickets at regular intervals. The match went down to the wire as Anya Shrubsole hit the winning runs on the penultimate delivery. England thus won the match by two wickets.

There were a lot of things that went wrong for South Africa in this match. Let us have a look at five of those major things they did wrong:

#1 Early wickets set them on the back foot

Lizelle Lee’s early dismissal put South Africa on the back foot

South Africa had been heavily reliant on Lizelle Lee to get them off to quick starts in all the previous matches. Laura Wolvaardt had always been the one to play the second fiddle to her. And once Lee got out cheaply against England on Tuesday, South Africa found runs hard to come by.

The Proteas were on a score of 21 in the sixth over when Anya Shrubsole cleaned Lee up for an individual score of 7 (13). Wolvaardt continued the innings with Trisha Cheney afterwards but at a pretty slow run rate. They could only crawl to a score of 48 in the 12th over before Cherry (15) was out stumped off Natalie Sciver's bowling. South Africa thus found themselves in deep trouble being on 48/2.

#2 Lost their way in the middle after a good partnership

Laura Wolvaardt made an impressive 66

Wolvaardt and Mignon du Preez resurrected the South African innings after Lee and Cheney got dismissed cheaply. Both batters played calm and composed innings. They rotated the strike well and struck occasional boundaries whenever needed.

Soon the partnership had amounted to 77 valuable runs and they were looking to break free. However, they were soon dealt with two quick brutal blows.

First, Knight cleaned up a well set Wolvaardt on an individual score of 66 (100) in the 32nd over of the innings. Next, Shrubsole affected a superb run out in the same over to send Marizanne Kapp (1) back to the pavilion. South Africa soon found themselves at an uncomfortable position as they were reduced to 126/4 from a comfortable 125/2.

#3 Failed to accelerate at the latter part of the innings

Sune Luus and co. failed to really accelerate in the latter parts of the innings

South Africa could only manage 60 odd runs in the last 10 overs whereas it should have been 20-30 runs more. Skipper Dane Van Niekerk consumed a lot of deliveries walking out to bat at a crucial stage. She consumed 39 deliveries for her 27 runs.

Mignon du Preez, who was well set by then, could only score at a run-a-ball in the latter stages. She ended up being unbeaten on 76 off 95 deliveries.

Sune Luus tried her best to up the antenna. However, all she could muster were 21 runs off 25 deliveries at less than a run-a-ball. As a result, South Africa could only manage 221/6 in their full quota of 50 overs.

#4 Failure to check England's run-rate at the start and high percentage of extras

South Africa’s lack of discipline with the ball cost them in the end

South Africa allowed England to get off to a good start with some undisciplined bowling. When England's first wicket fell with the score at 42 in the 9th over, their run rate was nearly touching five. Lauren Winfield had consumed 43 deliveries for her 20 when she got dismissed. And Beaumont was on a single digit score back then. That means South Africa had conceded over 10 extras by then and it cost them dearly at the end.

England were on a score of 61 when they lost their second wicket, Beaumont (15), in the 13th over. However, the run rate still was hovering around five.

This kind of start allowed the other English batters to take their time to settle down. Moreover, the total number of extras bowled by South Africa amounted to 25 at the end of the match. It was surely not what one wants in a low scoring match.

#5 Their defensive approach allowed Taylor-Knight partnership to flourish

Sarah Taylor raises her bat after getting to her half-century

After sending both the English openers back to the pavilion, South Africa concentrated more on restricting the run flow. However, that allowed Sarah Taylor and Heather Knight to settle down and build a partnership.

They put on a stand of 78 runs for the third wicket and it was the period in the match when England dominated. Sarah Taylor also brought up her second fifty of the tournament and it couldn't have been a better occasion to score. Heather Knight also supported her well with her composed innings of 30.

Although both of them were dismissed around the 30th over, it was their partnership that set the platform for the other English players to finish the game off.