Sophie Ecclestone, the English spinner made history on Thursday against South Africa in the 2nd Semi-Final of the 2022 Women’s World Cup as she bowled a match-winning spell of 6 for 36 resulting in England defeating South Africa and qualifying for the Finals of the 2022 World Cup.
England had posted a huge score of 293 in their 50 overs. Opener Danielle Wyatt scored a fabulous century of 129 with 12 boundaries. Sophia Dunkley, boosted the score to 293 as she gave superb finishing touches scoring a magnificent 60. Ecclestone also plays a minor role with bat as she scored 24* in 11 balls with 5 boundaries in the last 3 overs pushing the score to 293. Shabnim Ismail was the pick of the South African bowlers picking 3 for 46 in her 10 overs.
England bowlers dominated against the Proteas batters as they picked wickets at regular intervals. Laura Wolvaardt, the highest run-scorer of this tournament was dismissed for a duck. Wickets kept falling and South Africa lost their top 4 with just 67 on the board. Then, Sophie Ecclestone started her spell and wreaked havoc on the middle and lower order batting of South Africa. She took the rest of the 6 wickets and bundled out the Proteas for 156 in 38 overs winning the match for England by 137 runs.
Take a bow, Sophie 🙌😍#CWC22 #ENGvSA #TeamEngland pic.twitter.com/H6EUtN9iPh
— Female Cricket #CWC22 (@imfemalecricket) March 31, 2022
Ecclestone’s mind-boggling bowling spell of 6 for 36 is the best bowling spell in the 2022 World Cup. This is the 3rd best bowling figure in Women’s World Cup history. She also became the 2nd English woman to take a 6 wicket haul as Anya Srubsole was the first to do it in the 2017 WC final against team India where she took 6 for 46 resulting in England winning the 2017 WC.
Did You Know?😯
Only 2 players have 6-fer in World Cup Knockout matches and both are from England bowlers 🔥
• 🏴 Anya Shrubsole – 6/46, 2017
• 🏴 Sophie Ecclestone – 6/36, 2022#CWC22 #ENGvSA pic.twitter.com/p82uEpwUFq— Female Cricket #CWC22 (@imfemalecricket) March 31, 2022
Ecclestone with 20 wickets will finish the tournament as the highest wicket-taker. But, if she’s able to get 3 more wickets in the Final against Australia, Ecclestone will equal the most wickets by a bowler in a single World Cup campaign with Australia’s Lyn Fullston who took 23 wickets in the 1982 World Cup.
Let us see whether the World No.1 bowler Sophie Ecclestone will be able to take 3 or more wickets in the Final against Australia on Sunday, April 3rd at Christchurch in 2022 Women’s World Cup Final.
Follow Female Cricket on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news and updates around Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022
I’m a Content Writer, Podcaster and Presenter. I’ve written 100+ articles across various sports and produced 50+ Podcast episodes. You can find my podcast “The Off Stump” on Spotify.