New Delhi: South Africa boosted their chances of reaching the semi-finals of the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup with an 88-run win over the Netherlands in Bristol on Thursday.Opening batsman Tazmin Blitz produced an innings of her career with an unbeaten 114 off 69 balls as South Africa posted a tournament-best 208/1 before restricting the Netherlands to 120/8.The victory was South Africa’s third in a row after losing to Australia in the opener, taking them level with India in Group One with six points from four games. However, the Proteas’ net run-rate still lags behind that of India. Their semi-final hopes now hinge on Sunday’s match against Bangladesh, while India will take on group leaders Australia.The Englishman was the star of the night, scoring her first T20I century in the 82nd over. Her unbeaten score of 114 is the second-highest individual score in the history of the Women’s T20 World Cup, behind only Meg Lanning’s 126 against Ireland in 2014.She shared 121 runs off 45 balls with captain Laura Wolvaardt and then 87 runs with Annerie Dercksen, who struck 37 runs off just 16 balls.Great Britain got off to a positive start, helping South Africa reach 66th place without losing a single point in the PowerPlay. During this period, she also became the second South African woman after Wolvaardt to complete 2,000 T20I runs.She reached her century in the first six innings of the 18th century and finished with 3 sixes and 15 boundaries. The total score of 208-1 is the highest ever in South Africa’s Women’s T20 World Cup history.The Netherlands got off to a positive start in the chase, reaching 50 runs unbeaten in the PowerPlay through Phoebe Molkenboer and Sanya Khurana. Molkenbul (41), Khurana and Stre Kallis kept the scoreboard moving as the Netherlands crossed the 100 mark in the 15th over.However, they never came close to the required run rate and suffered a dramatic collapse towards the end of the innings, losing seven wickets in the last 20 overs.Ayabonga Khaka led the South Africa bowling attack with 3/19 while Shabnim Ismail continued his impressive comeback from retirement. Ismail took her 48th wicket in the history of the Women’s T20 World Cup, tying Australia’s Megan Schutt as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament’s history.After receiving the Man of the Match award, the Englishman admitted she almost didn’t realize she was approaching a century.“To be honest, I didn’t even realize I was close to that goal. I just wanted to try and get us to 200, so that was the main goal. I’m happy. It’s nice to be able to do this, especially at the World Cup,” she said.The Englishman also revealed that she has been working on improving her offside performance and explained her unique way of celebrating after reaching triple figures.“It was a sign language celebration. I was asked to do it, so I tried to study it. I said, ‘I’m grateful to God.'”South Africa now face Bangladesh in a must-win match at Lord’s, knowing that another win could seal a place in the semi-finals if the result goes their way.
