South Africa stormed into their maiden ODI World Cup final — men’s or women’s — after a record-breaking performance against England in the 2025 semifinal on Wednesday. The landmark victory saw captain Laura Wolvaardt and all-rounder Marizanne Kapp lead from the front, rewriting multiple records in one of South Africa’s greatest cricketing nights.
Historic First for South Africa
This is the first time South Africa have qualified for an ODI World Cup final in either men’s or women’s cricket. The women’s team had fallen short in all three previous ODI semifinals — in 2000, 2017, and 2022 — and the men’s team famously tied against Australia in the 1999 semifinal at Birmingham.
Overall, South Africa (men and women combined) have now appeared in nine ODI World Cup semifinals, winning one, losing seven, and tying one.
This also marks the third consecutive World Cup final (ODI and T20I combined) for the South Africa women’s team, after reaching the T20 World Cup finals in 2023 and 2024. With this, they become the only team to reach the final of each of the last three ICC women’s World Cups, joining Australia, England, New Zealand, India, and West Indies as the only sides to feature in both women’s ODI and T20 World Cup finals.
Record-Breaking Batting Display
South Africa’s 319/7 against England was their highest total in ODI World Cups, surpassing their 312/9 vs Pakistan last week in Colombo. It also ranks as their third-highest total in women’s ODIs, and the second-highest ever in a World Cup knockout, behind Australia’s 356/5 in the 2022 final.
Highest Totals for South Africa Women in ODIs
| Total | Innings | Opponent | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 337/5 | 1st | Ireland | Potchefstroom | 2017 |
| 323/8 | 1st | Ireland | Potchefstroom (Uni) | 2017 |
| 321/6 | 2nd | India | Bengaluru | 2024 |
| 319/7 | 1st | England | Guwahati (2025 WC) | 2025 |
| 316/4 | 1st | Bangladesh | Benoni | 2023 |
Wolvaardt’s 169: A Captain’s Classic
Skipper Laura Wolvaardt’s 169 was a record-breaking masterpiece —
- Highest individual score by a South African woman in World Cups.
- Second-highest score by a captain in World Cup history (after Belinda Clark’s 229* in 1997).
- Third-highest in a World Cup knockout match.
She became the first captain to score a century in an ODI World Cup knockout, and the first player with two 150-plus scores in women’s ODIs. Her four sixes were the second-most in a World Cup knockout after Harmanpreet Kaur’s seven in 2017.
Wolvaardt also crossed the 5,000-run mark in ODIs — becoming:
- The first South African woman,
- The youngest (26y 186d), and
- The second fastest (117 innings) after Smriti Mandhana to reach the milestone.
Top Run-Getters in Women’s ODIs
| Player | Innings | Runs | Avg | 100s/50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mithali Raj | 211 | 7805 | 50.68 | 7/64 |
| Charlotte Edwards | 180 | 5992 | 38.16 | 9/46 |
| Suzie Bates | 169 | 5936 | 38.79 | 13/37 |
| Stafanie Taylor | 163 | 5873 | 42.25 | 7/41 |
| Smriti Mandhana | 115 | 5253 | 48.63 | 14/34 |
| Laura Wolvaardt | 117 | 5121 | 50.20 | 10/38 |
Kapp’s Dominance with the Ball
All-rounder Marizanne Kapp delivered a devastating spell of 5/20, the best bowling figures by a South African woman in World Cups. She became:
- The third bowler to claim a five-wicket haul in a World Cup knockout (after Shrubsole and Ecclestone), and
- The first to take two five-fors in World Cups (2022 and 2025).
Her haul also made her the highest wicket-taker in Women’s World Cup history with 44 wickets, surpassing Jhulan Goswami’s 43.
Most Wickets in Women’s ODI World Cups
| Player | Country | Wickets | Innings | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marizanne Kapp | South Africa | 44 | 28 | 20.81 |
| Jhulan Goswami | India | 43 | 34 | 21.74 |
| Megan Schutt | Australia | 39 | 28 | 25.53 |
| Lyn Fullston | Australia | 39 | 20 | 11.94 |
| Sophie Ecclestone | England | 37 | 16 | 15.02 |
England Collapse and Records Shattered
England’s top three batters were dismissed for ducks, marking the first time in their ODI history that all top three have failed to score. The team was reduced to 1/3, the joint-lowest score at the fall of the third wicket in women’s ODIs.
Four English batters registered ducks — the joint-most for them in a World Cup match.
Despite the early collapse, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Alex Capsey added a 107-run fourth-wicket partnership, the lowest-ever entry point (1/3) for a century stand in ODI history (men’s or women’s).
South Africa’s 125-run victory was England’s second-heaviest defeat in Women’s World Cup history (after 126 runs vs Australia in 1988) and their first loss batting second against South Africa since 2003.
Six-Hitting Power Surge
South Africa have smashed 31 sixes in the 2025 World Cup — the most by any team in a Women’s ODI World Cup. India follow with 25. The total number of sixes in this edition (110) is just shy of the all-time record of 111 set in 2017.