Aussies beat rain, Proteas to surge into Cup final

The match in a tweet: Australia win a wet-weather thriller to seal their place in the T20 World Cup final!

The score: Australia 5-134 (Lanning 49*, Mooney 28; de Klerk 3-19) defeated South Africa (Woolvaardt 41*, Luus 21; Schutt 2-17) by five runs on DLS method at the SCG.

The hero: Under pressure on the big stage, Australia captain Meg Lanning continued her outstanding record in knockout games with a run-a-ball 49 not out.

Lanning had looked ready to launch when she smacked van Niekerk back over mid-off for six, but her charge was curtailed through the middle overs as wickets fell.

However, the Australia leader hung around to anchor the innings, forming small but key partnerships with Rachael Haynes and Nicola Carey and helped plunder 17 runs off Ayabonga Khaka in the 18th over to give her team some late momentum.

Image Id: 5850A5A25B284299BC0DE24CE9963014 Image Caption: Beth Mooney continued her terrific World Cup // AAP

The support cast: Sent in by the Proteas, Australia were in the difficult position of not knowing when the next band of rain would hit – only that it was likely it would.

Openers Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney started strongly striking eight boundaries between them as Australia reached 1-48 at the end of the power play. Healy looked on song early, twice coming down the wicket to hit Chloe Tryon for four before she hit Khaka straight to Dane van Niekerk at mid-wicket, departing for 18 from 13.

Mooney continued her excellent tournament, finding the boundary four times, but her attack came to an end on 28.

With the ball, Megan Schutt (2-17) and Delissa Kimmince (1-16) were clutch under immense pressure, while the Australian fielders were superb in wet conditions.

Sophie Molineux came into the XI cold having sat out the group stage with a corked thigh and she was given a rude welcome by Dane van Niekerk who dispatched her first delivery over the boundary. But she hit back with her fifth, as Ashleigh Gardner hung on to a brilliant running catch at long on to dismiss Lizelle Lee for 10.

Schutt then produced a brilliant in-swinger to bowl van Niekerk for 12, and then Lanning hung on to an excellent catch diving forward at cover to dismiss Mignon du Preez (0). She returned to dismiss Luus (21) before Jonassen picked up the key wicket of the hard-hitting Tryon in the final over to blunt the Proteas’ hopes of stealing victory.

Image Id: D155F8F10629448F8903775BE4CE4EE9 Image Caption: Megan Schutt took 2-17 from three overs // AAP

The consolation acts: Despite only coming in as a replacement for Kapp, Nadine de Klerk proved the key wicket taker for the Proteas. The right-arm medium pacer picked up 3-19 from her four overs, bowling Mooney for 28, before she had Gardner (0) caught behind.

Those wickets, combined with the dismissal of Jess Jonassen for one, stopped Australia’s early charge as 6.2 overs passing without a boundary. She then returned late in the innings to rattle the stumps of Haynes (17).

From a dangerous position at 3-24, Laura Woolvardt produced possibly the best innings of her T20I career. She cleared the rope for a much-needed maximum before producing one of, if not the shot of the match with a superb cover drive.

Woolvaardt has been working hard at her 20-over game and the improvements made were apparent as she found the boundary three times and cleared it twice.

Image Id: 7BC885DC29FB45148374A23C869CE324 Image Caption: Laura Woolvaardt struck a terrific 27-ball 41 // AAP

The weather: Having already caused the first semi-final between India and England to be abandoned without a ball bowled, rain delayed the start of the match by 25 minutes. The wet weather stayed away for the best part of Australia’s innings but returned during the final over, delaying the start of South Africa’s chase. When it cleared, the Proteas had a new target of 98 from 13 overs.

The absence: In 37 T20 World Cup matches since the first event in 2009, Ellyse Perry had never missed a match – until today. The hamstrung allrounder has remained with the Australian squad, lending her expertise and leadership in the lead-up to the match.

The next stop: Australia will meet India in the T20 World Cup final at the MCG on Sunday at 6pm AEDT.

2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup

February 21:India beat Australia by 17 runs

February 24: Australia beat Sri Lanka by five wickets

February 27: Australia beat Bangladesh by 86 runs 

March 2: Australia beat New Zealand by four runs

March 5: Semi-final 1 & Semi-final 2, SCG

March 8: Final, MCG

For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE

* All matches will be broadcast on Fox Cricket and Kayo, while Australia's matches will also be broadcast on the Nine Network