Botha and Van Wyk lead South Africa to the final game.

South Africa defeated Australia by five wickets in the first semi-final and secured their spot in the Women's Under-19 T20 World Cup final for the first time thanks to a four-wicket haul from Ashleigh van Wyk and a blistering 24-ball 37 from opener Jemma Botha.

Australia chose to play in sunny Kuala Lumpur, and they were immediately at a disadvantage when quick bowler Nthabiseng Nini trapped Ines McKeon leg before wicket on the opening delivery. At the bowler's end, skipper Lucy Hamilton's punch bounced off Nini's fingers onto the non-striker's stumps, and Grace Lyons, who had been promoted up the order, was run out after backing up too far.

The South African bowlers, Hamilton and Caoimhe Bray, were cautious and stuck to a wicket-to-wicket line. Only halfway through the fifth over did Australia score their first boundary, but Hamilton soon added a couple more off Nini.

Then South Africa's skipper, Kayla Reyneke, missed a sweep and hit in her opening over, putting her opposite number in front of the stumps. Australia failed to score a boundary in 7.3 overs while South Africa put on a spin strangle. In 47 balls, Bray and Eleanor Larosa combined for 27 runs for the fourth wicket.

After Larosa was dismissed by a spectacular return catch by Seshnie Naidu, van Wyk took charge and destroyed the Australia lower middle order, taking four wickets in three overs. For Australia to reach 105 for 8 on a strong batting strip, Ella Briscoe's undefeated 17-ball 27 was essential.

It wasn't anticipated that South Africa's pursuit would be easy against an Australian attack that hadn't given up more than 100 points during the tournament. But Botha wasted little time.

Botha started out by hitting back-to-back fours against Larosa in the opening over, batting far down the track to nullify any movement. A Chloe Ainsworth in-ducker quickly defeated Simone Lorens, who also began with a four. However, Botha was unstoppable. South Africa quickly reached 50 for 2 in six overs thanks to her five fours and two sixes.

Now that the foundation was in place, Reyneke took command and led her side calmly in the direction of their objective. In the middle overs, South Africa easily won thanks to her stitching a 21-run partnership with Botha and a 38-run partnership with Karabo Meso. Naidu brought South Africa home with 11 balls remaining after Reyneke came three short of the goal.

Clipped from: web site

SouthAfrica Womencricket T20worldcup Australia news Final

• Original size