The Proteas Women went down to Australia by seven wickets in their final ICC Women\u2019s Cricket World Cup 2025 round-robin fixture in Indore on Saturday.<\/p>\n
South Africa were dismissed for 97 all out in their 24 overs, thanks to Alana King\u2019s return of seven for 18, before Georgia Voll (38*) and Beth Mooney (42) helped the Aussies to victory with 33.1 overs to spare.<\/p>\n
Having lost the toss, the Proteas were asked to bat first under overcast conditions at the Holkar Stadium. Captain Laura Wolvaardt (31) and Tazmin Brits (6) gave South Africa a steady start, taking the score to 32\/0 by the seventh over before the Proteas Women lost a flurry of wickets.<\/p>\n
Megan Schutt (1\/21) and Kim Garth (1\/21) removed the opening batters before King\u2019s leg-spin took centre stage. The 29-year-old claimed four quick wickets without conceding a run, dismissing Sun\u00e9 Luus (6), Marizanne Kapp (0), Annerie Dercksen (5) and Chlo\u00e9 Tryon (0) to reduce South Africa to 60\/6 in the 16th over.<\/p>\n
Sinalo Jafta offered brief resistance, scoring a personal best 29 off 17 deliveries, before becoming King\u2019s fifth victim of the day. King, supported by Ashleigh Gardner (1\/19), helped wrap up the Proteas innings for just 97 runs after 24 overs.<\/p>\n
Defending a modest target of 98, the Proteas Women began brightly with the ball. Kapp (1\/11) made an early breakthrough by finding the edge of Phoebe Litchfield (5) before Nadine de Klerk took a brilliant catch at point off Masabata Klaas\u2019 (1\/14) bowling to dismiss Ellyse Perry (0) and leave Australia 11\/2 early on.<\/p>\n
Opener Voll then found strong support from the experienced Mooney. The pair steadied the chase with a composed 76-run partnership, taking Australia to 87\/2 in the 16th over and within touching distance of victory.<\/p>\n
Needing just 11 more runs, Voll and Mooney looked set to see Australia home before de Klerk (1\/13) picked up a consolation wicket, removing Mooney. However, the defending champions comfortably reached the target to seal a seven-wicket win.<\/p>\n
South Africa will now face England in the first semi-final at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday, 29 October, with play starting at 15h00 local time (11h30 SAST).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"