Laura Wolvaardt Co. will face world-beaters Australia in the opening semifinal of the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup in Dubai on Thursday, October 17, in an attempt to become the first South African team to win a World Cup.

The two teams are similar on paper as they prepare for their rematch in the 2023 championship. Both teams are proud of their openers, who can both put on a show in knockout matches; their pace spearheads are the only ones in the competition to concede at less than 4 RPO; and their captains are close friends from the Adelaide Strikers, who are well-versed in each other's counterpunches.

But their nerve-wracking skills might still make a difference, and South Africa wouldn't want a painful flashback of that fateful February night in Cape Town the previous year. Betpro log in to the place where you can see this exciting match.

In the two years since the devastating loss in front of a raucous home crowd, Laura Wolvaardt and company have discovered the most fundamental but crucial lesson: Australia can be defeated if they play their best cricket.

Australia leads South Africa 9-1 in Twenty20 international matches. Thus, the sample size may be tiny, but the team's confidence is vital.

The fact that both teams prepared together earlier this year in Australia, that in-form players are leading the way in both categories and—above all—the circumstances that have leveled the playing field like never before all contribute to this view.

The injury-plagued reigning champions, who have just once entered the stadium, are no match for South Africa, who has played three of its four Group B games in Dubai and won all of them handily.

The World Cup campaigns of England and India were severely damaged in their opening matches at the same site, and it is improbable that Australia had any positive recollections of their first trip to Dubai.

Prone to injuries quickly. Following a stunning World Cup comeback, Tayla Vlaeminck dislocated her shoulder and was once again ruled out, and their captain, Alyssa Healy, hobbled off the pitch due to a foot injury.

However, even with a short turnaround time, they needed to eliminate India in Sharjah. Australia's close victory by nine runs is still the only World Cup match that tested their depth as the tournament's final stages drew near.

Australia remains the team to beat, even in the absence of Healy. Australia's track record speaks for itself; since 2010, they have advanced to every final and reached the semifinals in all nine seasons. It will take enormous work from a determined South Africa to change that.

What to anticipate: In Dubai, captains who win the toss have chosen to bat first seven times and have won four of those games; in three attempts, those who would instead pursue have a perfect record.

Three of the four first-inning scores in the four matches won by the team batting first—which appears to be the new venue trend—were 160 or higher. However, New Zealand's 110/6, sufficient to defeat Pakistan by 54 runs and advance to the semifinals, was an outlier.

Compare the two: In Women T20Is, Australia has a 9-1 win-loss record versus South Africa; their lone loss occurred in Canberra in January. Australia has prevailed in the seven head-to-head Women's T20 World Cup matches, including the championship match in Cape Town last year.

Australia captain Healy's availability is still up for grabs. With her right foot in a moon boot and emergency crutches in place, the wicketkeeper-opener is unlikely to return this quickly and has yet to train since.

In Healy's stead, Harris started the game again as the opener, while in the match against India, Darcie Brown took over as Vlaeminck's like-for-like replacement due to injury. Australia may choose to play the same lineup in the semifinals.

Ellyse Perry, Phoebe Litchfield, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath (C), Annabel Sutherland, Sophie Molineux, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown, and Beth Mooney (wk) are the probable starting lineup.

There are no injuries or availability issues in South Africa. Tuesday marked the team's first training session after concluding their group stages the previous week.

Presumptive starting XI: Sinalo Jafta (wk), Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka, Tazmin Brits, Anneke Bosch, Marianne Kapp, Chloe Tryon, Sune Luus, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, and Laura Wolvaardt (C).

Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy have appeared in seven T20 World Cup semifinals thus far, one more than their previous captain, Meg Lanning, and the most in the tournament's history.

- In the last three T20 World Cup knockouts in which she has participated, Beth Mooney has amassed fifty-five runs, including the 74* in the 2023 championship. Similarly, in South Africa's last three World Cup knockout games, Laura Wolvaardt has scored at least 41 goals.

They said: "Although Australia's accomplishments can easily be overlooked, I believe we can defeat them if we play a quality brand of cricket. We demonstrated that earlier this year in our T20 [series].

The same can be observed with England and India, two teams you would have believed would have [progressed], not making it to the semifinals. However, T20 cricket may be a little chaotic at times.

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We can accomplish anything daily if we keep things straightforward and concentrate on ourselves." Laura Wolvaardt, the captain of South Africa, discusses the problematic semifinal challenge

"As things stand, Midge's situation is unchanged; the team and medical personnel will give her every chance to play tomorrow night. Nothing has changed, as far as I can tell. We can only wait and observe over the next 24 hours." Ellyse Perry, vice-captain in stand-in Healy's level of fitness.