Litchfield blitz and Australia’s spinners crush South Africa at Old Trafford

Australia did not ease into their World Cup. They arrived at Old Trafford and flattened South Africa by 65 runs, a result built on a Phoebe Litchfield blitz and finished off by a bowling attack that turned a chase into a procession. Leading the side at her first World Cup since taking over from the retired Alyssa Healy, Sophie Molineux watched Australia look exactly like the team to beat.

Litchfield sets the tone

Litchfield needed only 24 balls for her fifty, carving nine fours and a six as she took the early bowling apart. Her 50 gave Australia the platform, and the innings never lost momentum from there. Ellyse Perry added a measured 36 off 26 in the middle order, Georgia Wareham made a busy 32 off 22, and Annabel Sutherland chipped in with 21.

South Africa kept taking wickets, which is why Australia finished on 172 for 8 rather than something past 180, but it was a total with plenty of cushion on a surface that was not getting any easier to bat on.

The bowlers turn the screw

Chasing 173, South Africa never got going. Laura Wolvaardt fought with 44 off 39 at the top, but wickets kept falling at the other end and the required rate climbed out of reach. Wareham followed her runs with 3 for 13, Alana King’s leg spin accounted for two, and Molineux added two of her own. South Africa were bowled out for 107 in 16.4 overs, with more than three overs unused.

It was the kind of collapse that says as much about the pressure Australia apply as the batting that folded under it. Once Wolvaardt went, there was no partnership big enough to drag the chase back.

An early marker in a loaded group

There was a small edge to this one for Australia. South Africa knocked them out of the 2024 tournament at the semi-final stage, so a 65-run win to open the campaign carries a little extra weight. Molineux’s first World Cup in charge beginning with a rout, the side barely missing the retired Healy, says plenty about the depth Australia carry.

South Africa will know they are better than this, with Wolvaardt and a strong bowling group of their own to come good. But losing your opener by 65 runs in a group this tight is the worst possible start, and they have ground to make up quickly.

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