Australia women 269 (Bolton 79, Perry 55, Luus 5 for 65) beat South Africa women 210 (Wolvaardt 71, Chetty 37, Haynes 2 for 12, Jonassen 2 for 40, Perry 2-47) by 59 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Ellyse Perry was at the forefront of another Australian victory © ICC/Getty Images
Prior to Saturday’s match, South Africa had never won against Australia in 13 completed ODIs. The closest they had come was in November 2016, when they managed a tie one of the five games of the series. Another had yielded a loss off the penultimate ball. That South Africa were able to bring some of that grit into their last league fixture this World Cup was largely down to legspinner Sune Luus‘ fifth five-wicket haul that restricted Australia to 269, and 18-year old Laura Wolvaardt‘s solid 71 that they could not capitalise on. South Africa fell 59 runs short in Taunton, allowing the defending champions to turn their attention to a semi-final clash with India on July 20.
Ellyse Perry was chiefly responsible for things turning out the way they did as she combined a 58-ball 59 with figures of 2 for 47. She ran Trisha Chetty out for 37 with a sharp throw from deep midwicket, and then removed Luus and Ayabonga Khaka off successive deliveries in the 39th over to clear Australia’s path to victory.
Australia’s spinners – Jess Jonassen, Asheligh Gardner and Kristen Beams – had done most of the damage, returning combined figures of 3 for 99 off 30 overs. While left-armer Jonassen took out opener Lizelle Lee in the sixth over of the chase, before adding van Niekerk to her tally of 2 for 40, Gardner and Kristen Beams ensured pressure was kept up from the other end as well.
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Annesha Ghosh is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo