'One bad night' won't define Australia: Healy

Alyssa Healy insists "one bad night" will not define Australia as a team, as she revealed the agonising call – and the extent of the injury – that saw her miss their T20 World Cup semi-final.

Australia's hopes of a fourth consecutive title were dashed by a brilliant and bold South Africa, who charged into their second straight final with a dominant eight-wicket win.

Healy acknowledged her team had simply been outplayed by the Proteas, adding it had been frustrating to watch on from the dugout after missing the knockout game due to a foot injury.

"It was a really hard decision to make last night as to whether or not we were going to give (me playing) a punt or not, and I tried to make the team decision and sat myself down instead of taking the risk," Healy told reporters after the match.

"It was hard to watch knowing that you can't really go out there and help.

"I ruptured my plantar fascia ... completely ruptured one and partially ruptured the other.

"So, it was just a matter of function and pain and what I could handle, and ultimately, I probably only had one game in me."

What Healy's recovery looks like from here remains unclear, with the Australia captain saying she would be assessed when she returned home to Sydney.

The Weber WBBL season starts on October 27, and Australia's next assignment is an ODI series against India beginning December 5.

While Healy said her group was bitterly disappointed to miss a T20 World Cup final for the first time since 2009, she was adamant there were plenty of positions to come from the campaign.

"I think the environment we've managed to create, and the belief that we have within our side, that anybody can go out there and win the game, I think that showed throughout this World Cup," she said.

"I think one bad night doesn't necessarily define us as a team.

"Yes, we would love to win the trophy but that's not the case.

"I think there's been so many positives throughout this tournament, and the way that the girls are growing, learning and continuing to want to get better, shows the maturity of the side at such a young age."

Tahlia McGrath, who stood in as captain for Healy at Dubai International Stadium on Thursday night, also acknowledged Proteas' dominant performance.

South Africa had only beaten Australia once in T20Is leading into the semi-final, but produced a disciplined bowling display to limit Australia's deep batting order to 5-134, before Anneke Bosch smashed 74no from 48 balls to lead the Proteas to an eight-wicket win in 17.2 overs.

"They played really well tonight ... in tournament play, you can't afford to be off the mark at all," McGrath said.

"We were a little bit off tonight and they were spot on.

"It's disappointing. It's hard to take.

"But we'll get around each other, we'll regroup and there's still plenty of cricket on the calendar.

"Early on batting we thought it was a pretty tricky wicket and South Africa bowled really well and attacked the stumps and took the pace off and made it hard for us to.

"We still thought if we bowled well enough that was a competitive enough total. But they made it look like a pretty good wicket when they batted, and we were just slightly off with our bowling plans.

"So we were just slightly off all round and came up against a team who executed everything really well."

2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup

Australia's Group A fixtures

October 5: beat Sri Lanka by six wickets

October 8: beat New Zealand by 60 runs

October 11: beat Pakistan by nine wickets

October 13: beat India by nine runs

Finals

October 17: Semi-final 1: South Africa beat Australia by eight wickets

October 18: Semi-final 2: West Indies v New Zealand, Sharjah Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 19 AEDT

October 20: Final: South Africa v TBC, Dubai International Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 21 AEDT

For the full list of fixtures click here. All matches live and exclusive on Prime Video. Sign up here for a 30-day free trial