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South Africa stunned Australia by eight wickets in the first semifinal of the ICC Women's 2024 T20 World Cup at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, October 17. With the win, the Proteas made it to the summit clash of the ICC event for the second consecutive time. As for Australia, the defeat ended their streak of 15 consecutive wins in the Women’s T20 World Cup.
South Africa dominated the knockout match from start to end. Opting to bowl first after winning the toss, they held Australia to 134-5 as Ayabonga Khaka picked up 2-24. For the batting side, Beth Mooney top-scored with 44 off 42. In the chase, South Africa cruised home in 17.2 overs as Anneke Bosch hammered 74* off 48, while skipper Laura Wolvaardt contributed 42 off 37.
The defeat for the defending champions means that they will not feature in the Women's T20 World Cup final for the first time since 2009, which was the inaugural edition of the competition. England won the T20 World Cup in 2009, defeating New Zealand by six wickets at Lord's. The Aussies went down to England by eight wickets in the semifinal at The Oval.
Post 2009, Australia have featured in each and every final of the Women's T20 World Cup, winning six and losing only one. The Aussies beat New Zealand by three wickets in the 2010 Women's T20 World Cup final in Bridgetown. In 2012, they got the better of England by four runs in Colombo.
Australia completed a hat-trick of T20 World Cup triumphs when they again defeated England, this time by six wickets, in Mirpur in 2014. West Indies are the only team to have beaten the Aussies in a Women's T20 World Cup final. They achieved the feat during the 2016 edition in India when they thumped the defending champions by eight wickets at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Australia's defeat in 2016 was followed by another hat-trick of T20 World Cup titles. They beat England by eight wickets in the 2018 final in North Sound and hammered India by 85 runs in the 2020 summit clash in Melbourne. The Aussies lifted the T20 World Cup for the sixth time when they defeated South Africa by 19 runs in Cape Town during the 2023 edition.
Australia were undefeated in the group stage of the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup
Before going down to South Africa in the first semifinal in Dubai on Thursday, Australia were undefeated in the group stage of the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup. They topped Group A, with eight points from four games.
The Aussies began their campaign with a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka. They then beat New Zealand by 60 runs before going on to hammer Pakistan by nine wickets. India gave them a tough fight, but Australia held their nerves to register a close nine-run win.
