South Africa’s opening match of the World Cup was in the same city, and on that day, they lost by 10 wickets to the very same English side. In that game, the Proteas were undone by the spin of Linsey Smith, who took 3/7 in 4 overs, while Sophie Ecclestone claimed 2/19 in 6 overs, and Charlie Dean 2/14 in 3.4 overs, as South Africa were bowled out for 69 runs in 20.4 overs.

On Saturday against Australia, it was the leg-spin of Alana King that did the damage, as she took 7/18 in 7 overs, with South Africa bowled out for 97 runs in 24 overs during the seven-wicket defeat.

Linsey Smith (left) celebrating one of her three wickets against South Africa. Photo: Cricinfo

Importantly, the Proteas found a way to bounce back after the loss to England, going on a five-match unbeaten run by finding ways to win when at times they seemed dead and buried.

Against a confident English side, it will be tough, but South Africa have proven in the past that they can beat their more-fancied opponents.

The Proteas have shown that they can bounce back, and all-rounder Suné Luus told OFM Sport that they’ll be targeting more of the same.

“You play seven round-robin games, you’re never going to have a perfect tournament,” said Luus. “There's always going to be a few games here or there, a few moments here or there, where it doesn’t go your way.

“And World Cups are 100% about bounce-back ability and how quickly you can put a setback behind you.

“It was obviously not our best performance, but we don’t need extra motivation going into the semi-finals. I think South Africans are very resilient in our own way, and we know what we’re playing for, and everyone’s really excited.”

Suné Luus was bowled out for 2 by Lauren Bell in their opening game against England. Photo: Cricinfo

Luus conceded that spin in their defeats to England and Australia was their undoing, but said that against all the other teams they also faced spinners, so it’s not too much of a concern – rather a matter of applying themselves better.

“We didn’t do our best against those two teams and specifically those two bowlers.

“But I think if you look at all the other teams, we faced our fair share of spin throughout the tournament. Yeah, probably just some mental errors, not too focused or, you know, just one of those games, I guess.

“I think we’ve been brilliant throughout the tournament at playing spin, especially against the subcontinent teams who spin it just as much. Linsey Smith, you know, we faced very similar bowlers to her throughout the tournament.

Leg-spinner Alana King bagged seven wickets in Australia's win against South Africa. Photo: Cricinfo

“We’ve obviously looked back at that game and seen where we can improve and where our errors were. So we had our second-last training session today.

“We’re really just going to focus on covering all the areas that they’re going to throw at us and make sure we cover our bases, while also working very hard on our mental space.

“It’s obviously been a very long tour. We’ve been away from home for so long, but it’s the last stretch, and we know what we’re playing for. So everyone’s very excited to get out there and give our best performance.”

Wednesday’s semi-final between South Africa and England in Guwahati is scheduled to start at 11:30.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cvs