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New Delhi: Before this match, South Africa were expected to be a tough challenge. They made it to the finals of the most recent ICC events after all. But in their first match at the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025, they were handed a major reality check – a colossal 10-wicket defeat – by England at the Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati on Friday. It was a reality check so strong that it has given them a negative run-rate of 3.22.
In what was a stunning collapse, South Africa were bowled out for 69 runs in 20.4 overs – the second lowest total in an ODI World Cup. It was horror from the get-go as Linsey Smith (3/7) set the tone with early breakthroughs with the new ball. The questionable footwork against the moving ball and poor shot selection unfolded in the innings that followed for South Africa.
In her first two overs, left-arm spinner Smith dismissed their main batter and captain Laura Wolvaardt for five. Smith, making her World Cup debut, was introduced early in the innings – a bit of a strategic change from England. Tazmin Brits, the in-form batter, was then beaten on the inside edge. From then, the nightmare began and nine South African batters fell for single-digit scores – six of them clean bowled – the joint-highest tally for any team in a Women’s World Cup.
After Smith, skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt (2/5) chipped in with key wickets of Anneke Bosch (6) and Chloe Tryon (2). Alongside Smith and Nat Scriver-Brunt, the likes of Sophie Ecclestone (2/19), Charlie Dean (2/14) and Lauren Bell (1/24) shared the spoils with the ball.
Wicket-keeper batter Sinalo Jafta offered some resistance with her 36-ball 22 but with no support from the other end, South Africa’s innings collapsed without any resistance. Marizanne Kapp did her best to consistently beat the batters consistently but it took England’s Tammy Beaumont (21*) and Amy Jones (40*) just 14.1 overs to chase it down.
This is South Africa’s second 10-wicket loss in an ODI World Cup – their previous defeat coming against Australia in Bengaluru in 1997. South Africa face New Zealand next and with the net run rate now stacked heavily against them, there is very little scope for mistakes. Even if they were to beat Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, there is a good chance that New Zealand could upstage them in the race for the semi-finals against the Big Three nations – Australia, India and England.
“Not our best work with the bat, but in saying that, I don’t think we’ve become a bad batting unit overnight. I think this team has shown a lot of resilience in the past, so still a long tournament ahead of us,” said South African skipper Wolvaardt. “We’ll be looking to put this behind us as quickly as we can and move on to the next game.”
Meanwhile, for England, it will be a major boost, who lost their most recent home ODI series against India. Their NRR performance at the top of the table is more than double that of Australia, who are next best.
Their spin-heavy bowling line-up looked formidable against South Africa with their spinners looking match-ready. Interestingly, their bench strength is just as strong – spinner Sarah Glenn, pacers Em Arlott and Lauren Filer and opener Danielle Wyatt-Hodge are also in good touch.
“We’re very fortunate that we’ve got a lot of talented cricketers in our squad, and obviously that makes the decision very difficult.” said Sciver-Brunt. “I’m going to review things with the staff today and focus hard on the next match.”
England will now face Bangladesh in Guwahati on October 7.
