England have been knocked out of a World Cup after losing a match they were expected to win, thanks to a one-off innings which nobody saw coming. Sound familiar? That’s because it describes two events involving England which took place almost exactly a year apart: on Wednesday, their 50-over semi-final exit at the hands of South Africa; a year ago, their loss in a must-win group stage match against West Indies in the 20-over version.
In the interim, a 16-0 Ashes debacle and a post-series review which was meant to change everything. Did it? Time to delve a little more deeply into those two World Cup exits. In 2024, England fell to pieces, dropped five catches, and allowed a bish-bash-bosh innings from Qiana Joseph to win the day. On Wednesday, a player with beautiful technique and temperament – the South Africa captain, Laura Wolvaardt – showed why she is one of the world’s best batters. She offered up precisely one chance – a catch to Alice Capsey at long-on – and England held on to it. The trouble was, she had already scored 169 runs by that point.
