Danni Wyatt primary benefactor as Proteas drop 5 catches in Women’s World Cup semi-final

Danni Wyatt scored a century against the Proteas in the Women’s World Cup semi-final. Picture: ICC

Danni Wyatt scored a century against the Proteas in the Women’s World Cup semi-final. Picture: ICC

Published Mar 31, 2022

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Cape Town The Proteas have kept their worst fielding display for the grand stage of a Women’s World Cup semi-final at the Hagley Oval on Thursday.

Five dropped catches were littered through a listless fielding display that allowed England to post a commanding 293/8.

The primary benefactor of South Africa's charity was England's centurion Danni Wyatt, who hit 128 off 125 balls (12x4).

The opener was dropped on three occassions - 22, 36 and 77 - enroute to her century and again on 116 after bringing up her milestone.

Masabata Klaas was the unlucky bowler on the two early occasions with Lizelle Lee and Marizanne Kapp spilling the chances before Lara Goodall and Shabnim Ismail joined the list of culprits.

"We have got a great score on the board. The bowlers have to bowl well and back that up, hopefully we will do that. It was a good wicket, my plan was to capitalise on any width, run well between the wickets, it was quite big boundaries actually. Just play my game," Wyatt said.

"It's cricket, few good catches taken off me in the tournament, nice to have a few drops today. Overall I would like to score more runs but happy for today. We still have got a lot of work to do. We have got to bowl really well, take our chances and enjoy being out there."

The missed opportunities allowed England to maintain a solid run-rate throughout, which only increased when Sophia Dunkley joined Wyatt at the crease.

The pair put together a potentially match-winning 116-run partnership for the fifth wicket that set up England's total.

And even after Wyatt was dismissed, Dunkley maintained the momentum with 60 off just 70 balls. She was provided with good support down the order from Sophia Ecclestone, who struck a blistering 24 off just 11 balls.

Ismail bowled her heart out to stem England's momentum with figures of 3/46, but even she could not prevent three consecutive boundaries in the final over.

Klaas (2/55) and Kapp (2/52) also finished with two wickets apiece.