SA Women vs ENG Women, 4th Match at Guwahati, Women's World Cup, Oct 03 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary

6:06pm That was...brisk. England take a little less than a cumulative three hours to dispatch South Africa and reiterate their credentials. We will be back with more action from the Women's World Cup tomorrow as defending champions Australia take on Sri Lanka. Until next time, from Alan, Ranjith, Thilak and myself (Shashwat), it is goodbye. Take care, folks!

Nat Sciver-Brunt, England captain: Massively pleased. Everyone was on it in the field. Had a few first-ball wickets as well, so it was a captain's dream. (On Smith) She just stuck to her strengths. She is a left-arm spinner but can swing the ball. We knew she was a really good match-up (against the openers), who have scored a lot of runs in the lead-up to this tournament. It was an important partnership to break. We are really blessed we have so many talented cricketers in our squad.

Laura Wolvaardt, South Africa captain: (Reflections) Not the way we would have wanted to start the tournament. Not our best work with the bat. We have not become a bad batting team overnight. Team has shown a lot of resilience in the past, want to put this behind us (and move forward). They bowled really well with the new ball. Linsey was excellent. We did not expect that much swing, but could have played straighter lines. (On Khaka bowling late) She is alright. We found she could be very effective for us in the middle and wanted to try that, and see if getting on spin early works. (On her message to her team) Just to keep trusting what we have done in the past is good. We have had good preparation. Putting this game behind us and moving forward as fast as we can. In tournaments like this, need to have short memory of games like this and come in with the right intent (in our upcoming matches).

Linsey Smith, Player of the Match: Really delighted with how we went. To get that start was really special. Most importantly, got a big win today. Yesterday, she (Charlotte Edwards) spoke to me and told me I would be bowling (with the new ball). Tough challenge but conditions were suiting me today, lucky I could do well. (On her bowling approach) Just backing myself and not over-complicating it too much. Keeping it pretty simple and trying to bowl at the stumps as much as possible. There is huge talent in the squad, and everyone is pushing for places. We all offer different things, different parts of the game, and hopefully we can keep growing and learning as a unit.

Sowmya : "Consider this as a bad dream protea girls ! You are good enough.. may this be the start of a good WC campaign "

5:53pm 14.1 overs - that is all England needed to ice this chase. Some may say they could have been more aggressive, but they have still won with more than 35 overs left in the bank. Beaumont and Jones were troubled intermittently but nothing really to force any furrowed brows in the England camp. Both of them will also be feeling much better having come through unscathed and unbeaten.

A day that SA will quickly want to forget. Although they would want to still learn from it. They did not have anything to play with and even though Kapp produced a couple of very good deliveries, SA did not have the rub of the green going for them either. Their next game now sees them face New Zealand and that, given what has happened today, has suddenly gained an extra layer of importance.

Khaka to bowl what should be the last over of this game

Marco: "If England finished after exactly 13 overs, the NRR would have been a neat 4.00, which would have been nice to work with." -- What is mathematics and NRR without a few spare/rogue decimals, though...

England one hit away now

Keeper up to the stumps

Khaka to try her luck. England need only 15 more. Deep square leg, fine leg and deep third on the fence

An unbeaten 50-run stand for this opening pair. SA's highest partnership, in contrast, was 12. Still only two fielders out. SA treating this like an extension of the powerplay