THE GROUP stage of the T20 Women’s World Cup has been run and done, and now there are four teams left in the race to reach the pinnacle of international women’s T20 cricket.

Australia, England, India and South Africa are the four nations who will fight it out for ultimate glory. All four are not surprise semi finalists, though some had higher expectations than others to make this stage of the tournament.

It will come as no surprise to anyone well versed in women’s cricket that the Australians have made the semis yet again.

They have had another dominant tournament thus far, and with the likes of Ash Gardner, Meg Lanning and others in fine fettle, they remain arguably the team to beat this tournament.

The biggest threat to the continued Australian dominance this tournament appears to be England. After a lean few years, things seem to have to clicked into gear for the English and they are having a fantastic tournament. They also finished the group stage with a slightly better run rate than Australia, which will give them an extra boost of confidence.

England also lays claim to some of the tournament’s most dominant players thus far, particularly the likes of Natalie Sciver-Brunt and Sophie Ecclestone.

One thing we will not see this tournament is a repeat of the 2020 decider, but we will see it in the semis as Australia’s takes on India.

Although the Indians did suffer one loss in the group stage, it was to England, and looks to be a mere blip on the radar. If the likes of Smriti Mandhana and Richa Ghosh can get going, India remains a tough team to beat.

England’s semi final opponent will be South Africa, who have certainly made the most of other more highly fancied teams having poor tournaments, to seizing the opportunity to make the knockout stage of a home World Cup.

Laura Wolvaardt has been dominant with the bat while Marizanne Kapp has been dangerous with the ball, so although England will go in as favourite for the match, the tournament hosts cannot be taken lightly.

2023 World Cup Semi Finals

Australia vs India – Today at 3pm local (Tomorrow at 12am AEDT)
England vs South Africa – Tomorrow at 3pm local (Saturday 12am AEDT)