AUS-W vs SA-W Match 3 Results

5:10 PM IST PLAYER OF THE MATCH - For her outstanding all-round contribution, Georgia Wareham receives the award. She scored a crucial 32 runs with the bat and also picked up 3 massive wickets. On her batting, she says the depth of the lineup lets everyone play with confidence and freedom, knowing what's coming further down the order. She rates Litchfield's knock as awesome today, adding that the group is versatile and it's really just about communicating well within it, something she's enjoyed being part of. On the bowling unit, she notes that she and Ash try to position themselves in the hotspots out in the deep. On Molineux, she says Soph has been brilliant, giving the group plenty of freedom and instilling belief that they're a strong side capable of taking on this tournament, which she calls pretty awesome.

5:08 PM IST The captain of South Africa Women - Laura Wolvaardt admits and says it was a tough day. Reckons that it was a good first half from South Africa, as restricting Australia to that total was a solid effort. However, she admits the batting performance was disappointing. On the total, she feels it was a touch above par, but reckons South Africa would have backed themselves to chase it down, adding they lost momentum heading into the innings. On having Kapp and Ismail back, she says it's awesome to have them in the side, noting it's been a while since South Africa bowled that well in the Powerplay. She also credits Khaka and Mlaba for their work in the middle overs. On her own innings, she admits it was hard to get going and a bit frustrating, with Australia closing off her scoring areas and keeping her quiet. About De Klerk being sent to bat at number four, she says it's nice to stack the lineup that way and have that power coming through the middle order. On bouncing back, she's confident South Africa will, pointing out it's still a long tournament and the plan is to put this game behind them quickly and move forward.

5:06 PM IST The Kangaroos find spring in their hops - Indeed. The Australians have handed over a morale-deflating loss to the South Africans, and they will have to recover from this rather quickly, as they are placed in what is termed the group of death. Laura Wolvaardt and Co. will now head to Birmingham for their next assignment against Pakistan, and would hope for an improved performance there. As far as Australia are concerned, they take a trip to Leeds, Headingly for their next fixture against Bangladesh Women. Both those games will be played on Wednesday, 17th June. But for now, action shifts to Southampton as the third and final game of this triple-header, Saturday is just about to get underway. West Indies Women take on the defending champions, New Zealand Women, at The Rose Bowl. Our buildup has already begun there, so you can hop to that matchcenter to follow all the updates. From here, it's ta-ta! Goodbye, cheers!

5:01 PM IST The Aussies boss it up and how​​​​​! As dominant as you like from the six-time World Champions, Australia. They have shown exactly why they remain the yardstick in white-ball cricket and the most successful side in the shortest format of the game. They've also taken brutal revenge for that defeat to the Proteas in the 2024 semifinal, a loss that denied them a seventh title, and set the sails nicely for their journey this time around. A tough, tough outing for the Proteas overall. They have just folded here, losing their last five wickets in 18 balls for just 10 runs. This will massively dent their net run rate moving forward in the tournament. That's a shellacking. Barring three batters, no one from the Proteas unit could cross the double digits. Ouch!

5:00 PM IST The captain of Australia Women - Sophie Molineux admits that they were in trouble early on, but are really pleased with how the girls responded and how they bowled. She praises the top and middle order for being able to play all around the ground and take the game on, adding that it was great to see the girls play with that freedom. On Litchfield, she calls her amazing, extremely skilful, and says her confidence and game are going through the roof right now. On the bowling changes, she details that she gets a lot of help with that, crediting the team for having the right people in the right places.

4:59 PM IST It never really got going - South Africa, at the mid innings break, must've been pleased to have restricted Australia below 180, but when they came to chase, it unravelled quickly. They were reduced to 48/3 in 7 overs, but with Laura Wolvaardt and Nadine De Klerk putting on a rebuilding stand of 41, followed by a 34-run alliance between Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp, it kept the Proteas in the hunt, well and truly. It wasn't an easy pitch for new batters, with uneven bounce from both ends. The ball kept low from one end, which proved tricky for the Proteas to deal with, and with Australia deploying a full spin attack to choke the flow of runs, that's exactly what happened. The spinners twisted the knife and kept twisting it, accounting for 8 of the 10 wickets, leaving the Proteas with no answers. The fall of Laura Wolvaardt at a crucial time triggered a collapse, and they kept losing wickets one after another, never able to recover.