🏏ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026: Group A: SA W vs BAN W, Pg 20🏏 - Page 21

Team news:

Bangladesh: The XI who beat Pakistan and gave India a decent go deserves to be retained.

Possible XI: Juairiya Ferdous, Dilara Akter, Sharmin Akthter, Nigar Sultana (capt), Sobhana Mostary, Shorna Akter, Ritu Moni, Nahida Akter, Rabeya Khan, Marufa Akter, Sanjida Akter.

South Africa: Don't mess with the XI who downed India and the Netherlands.

Possible XI: Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Tazmin Brits, Annerie Dercksen, Marizanne Kapp, Nadine de Klerk, Chloe Tryon, Dane van Niekerk, Sinalo Jafta, Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeko Mlaba.

Did you know?

- Bangladesh failed to reach the knockout stages in all of their previous five T20 World Cup campaigns.

- In their nine visits to the tournament before the current edition, South Africa were beaten semifinalists twice and made it to two finals - both of them lost.

- South Africa have won all three T20 World Cup matches between these teams.

What they said:

"They make us feel that women's cricket is special, and that women are important for Bangladesh." - Nigar Sultana on the passionate support her team have enjoyed during the tournament.

"First thing the players did was whip out their phones to take pictures and videos. They're very excited to be at Lord's." - Claire Terblanche says the occasion has not gone unmarked.

Thanks for the tag bangla win this

Thanks for the tag Madhu.

May the best team win.

Cheers..

Lord's, London: Pitch Report

The iconic venue of Lord's, London will be hosting this crucial match between South Africa and Bangladesh. The ground has hosted just one match in the ongoing tournament, and it was a balanced contest. Historically, the pitch favours both batters and bowlers, with the pitch getting better to bat as the game progresses.

Probable Best Batter: Tazmin Brits

Tazmin Brits of South Africa (Source: Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

The South African opener Tazmin Brits will be the batter to watch out for in this contest. She is in great form, smashing a stunning century against Netherlands in their last match. The South African team will be hoping that she continues her great form.

Probable Best Bowler: Marizanne Kapp

Marizanne Kapp.

The veteran pacer Marizanne Kapp will be the bowler to watch out for in this contest. She has been a significant contributor in this World Cup with both bat and ball. Kapp has taken six wickets in four matches with a bowling average of 15.00.

Australia have been the standout side of the tournament, winning all four of their matches. With a staggering net run rate of +4.724, it would take a couple of near-impossible results for them to miss out on a semi-final berth. The Women in Yellow will face India later in the day, with the latter knowing that a victory will guarantee qualification. Even a narrow defeat could be enough for India, but the exact permutations and combinations will only become clear after this opening fixture between South Africa and Bangladesh. So stay with us, because we are in for an exciting day of cricket.

09:15 Local Time, 08:15 GMT, 13:45 IST: Hello and welcome! We have reached the final day of the group stage of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026, and there's still plenty to play for. England and West Indies have already secured their places in the semi-finals from Group B, but Group A remains wide open, with none of its teams having a "Q" against their name just yet. Australia, India, South Africa, and Bangladesh are all still in contention, and all four teams will be in action today at Lord's.

Bangladesh have four points from four matches and are all but out of the semi-final race. Their only route to the last four is to beat South Africa by more than 100 runs and then hope Australia defeat India by an even bigger margin

Bangladesh Women have won the toss and have opted to bat

Teams:

South Africa Women (Playing XI): Laura Wolvaardt(c), Tazmin Brits, Annerie Dercksen, Dane van Niekerk, Marizanne Kapp, Nadine de Klerk, Chloe Tryon, Sinalo Jafta(w), Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeko Mlaba

Bangladesh Women (Playing XI): Taj Nehar, Juairiya Ferdous, Sharmin Akhter, Nigar Sultana(w/c), Sobhana Mostary, Shorna Akter, Ritu Moni, Rabeya Khan, Nahida Akter, Marufa Akter, Shanjida Akter Meghla

Laura Wolvaardt: Probably would've had a bowl anyway. It looks like a pretty good wicket, but if there's going to be anything in it for the bowlers, it'll likely be early on. So we're quite happy to have a bowl first. Unchanged today. We've had a couple of close games along the way, but we've found ways to get over the line. Hopefully, we can do that one more time today. (On NRR equations) I think the numbers are pretty huge, so we're not going to worry too much about them. We'll just take it one ball at a time and try to play really positive cricket. If we can win by a big margin, great, but the priority is to win the game. After that, we'll keep our fingers crossed and see what happens.

Nigar Sultana: We'll bat first. Looking at the conditions, we felt it would be good to put runs on the board. We have one change from the last game - Taj Nehar comes in for Dilara Akter. It's another opportunity for us. There have been a lot of positives to take from this tournament, but we really want to finish with a win. It's a great chance for the team to end the tournament on a high.

Bangladesh Women have won the toss and have opted to bat