SA make World Cup semis after match washed out

WELLINGTON: South Africa reached the semi-finals of the Women’s Cricket World Cup on Thursday when rain washed out their crunch match against the West Indies in Wellington.

Both teams received a point from the abandoned fixture, putting South Africa second in the table to Australia and beyond the reach of their rivals for the playoff spots.

The West Indies can still make the top four but need results involving India and England to go their way.

A downpour delayed the start of the match in the New Zealand capital for more than four hours, then officials attempted to proceed with innings of 26 overs apiece.

But that was scrapped after 10.5 overs with South Africa 61-4 and looking to rebuild with Mignon du Preez unbeaten on 38 from 31 balls.

Chinelle Henry took 3-19 and West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor felt they were on top when play was called off.

“It’s not the way we’d like (the match to end) but you can’t do much about God’s plan, it’s something we can’t control,” she said.

South Africa captain Sune Luus said her players were “pumped” at having the chance to make the final for the first time after semi appearances in 2000 and 2017. “Everyone’s extremely excited and obviously very happy to be in the semi-finals,” she said.