New Delhi, July 1: The second semifinal of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 is set to take place on Thursday between England and South Africa. Former Indian women’s cricket team fast bowler Shikha Pandey anticipates a closely contested match. She believes both teams possess the capability and experience to perform well under knockout pressure.
The winning team will face Australia for the title on Sunday. Regarding the semifinal, Shikha noted that South Africa is familiar with the conditions in England. However, she believes that England’s strong batting lineup could be a decisive factor.
Pandey referred to South Africa as one of the most dangerous teams in global tournaments, highlighting their aggressive nature and experience playing in English conditions. In an interview with ‘GeoStar’, she stated, “South Africa plays very aggressively in the World Cup. They have a strong bowling attack and batsmen who can handle pressure. Many of their players have played a lot of cricket in England. Marizanne Kapp has played three to four seasons of ‘The Hundred’ on these pitches. Therefore, they are well-prepared. They are warriors who do not give up easily.”
Despite acknowledging South Africa’s strengths, Shikha believes that England will enter the semifinal with a more robust and balanced batting lineup than in previous years. She remarked, “One thing I will say about England is that I have been watching them for a long time, and their batting has never been as organized and deep as it is now. They have strength, experience, and players who can finish matches.”
Shikha expects the semifinal to be decided by a narrow margin. She compared it to another tight knockout match in the tournament, saying, “We might see something similar to the India-South Africa match that went down to the last ball, where it was hard to determine the winner, but I believe England can defeat South Africa.”
In a match played on Tuesday at Kennington Oval, the West Indies team managed to score only 125 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in their allotted overs. In response, Australia secured victory with 8 wickets remaining in just 13 overs.
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