England Women face South Africa Women in the second semi-final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 at Kennington Oval on Thursday 2 July. England arrive unbeaten after five group games. Their last outing was a nine-wicket win over New Zealand, chasing 164 with 16 balls remaining, which sealed top spot in the group.
Danni Wyatt-Hodge has driven the batting with 282 runs at a strike rate of 153.26, including an unbeaten 105. Nat Sciver-Brunt has 94 runs at 159.32, and Sophia Dunkley has 120 at 139.53. In the attack, Sophie Ecclestone has eight wickets at an economy of 5.90, Charlie Dean has seven, and Freya Kemp has six, including a career-best 4/22.
South Africa recovered from their defeat by Australia with four straight wins. In their latest, they chased 118 against Bangladesh to win by four wickets with four balls to spare. Tazmin Brits has 174 runs at a strike rate of 134.88, including an unbeaten 114, while Marizanne Kapp has 119 runs at 148.75 and seven wickets at an economy of 5.21. Annerie Dercksen has 138 runs, Ayabonga Khaka has seven wickets and Nonkululeko Mlaba five at 5.80.
Our preview expects a strong powerplay of around 45 to 50 for no more than one or two wickets to be important, with the final five overs capable of yielding 45 to 55. Teams may prefer to bowl first, but a total above 160 would be hard to chase in a semi-final. England are our narrow favourites.
