U19 women’s cricket: SA sets sights on T20 World Cup victory

When it comes to sport, South Africans love nothing more than beating Australia.

And our under-19 women cricketers went one better yesterday by not only beating their Australian counterparts in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, but doing so in their pressure-cooker T20 World Cup semi-final to set up a final against India, who defeated England by nine wickets yesterday.

The final takes place tomorrow. Aiden Markram’s under-19 team of 2014 was the last time SA won a major limited overs title across all age groups.

SA cricket is enjoying a golden patch of results on the world stage as this is the third final their representative teams have reached in a row.

The senior men’s team made last year’s T20 final in the Caribbean only to lose out to India; the women’s team made the World T20 final in the United Arab Emirates in 2024 – their second in a row after losing to Australia at home in 2023 – only to lose to New Zealand; and now the under-19s have reached another final. Let’s hope they can go one better than their senior teams.

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Yesterday, South Africa shocked the Aussies. Both teams entered the semifinal unbeaten, although Australia were favoured as South Africa had not enjoyed a full match as rain has followed Kayla Reyneke’s team throughout the tournament.

Wins against New Zealand, Nigeria and Ireland were all in shortened matches, while their final Super Six match against the US was washed out.

Their only full match was against Samoa, where they chased the target of 17 in just 10 balls. Yesterday, they chased 106 for the win with five wickets in hand.

SA cricket is riding the crest of a wave with the national men’s team having qualified for the World Test Championship against Australia at Lord’s in June and the SA20 drawing massive crowds and big names as it closes in on the playoff stages.

A nation is behind our under-19 team tomorrow. You’ve got this.

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