South Africa was completely outplayed by Australia when they suffered their second defeat, while their hopes of entering the knockouts hangs by a thread.

A disheartened skipper at the post-match presentation spoke of the vibrant atmosphere at St George’s, “It was the first time that I had tears in my eyes during the national anthem.”

After a cautious start in the first three overs, Tazmin Brits, who top-scored with 45, found her gear and got the hosts off to a decent powerplay at 41 for the loss of no wicket.

Meg Lanning was superb with her bowling changes and field placements, and Ellyse Perry in particular was excellent at saving runs on the boundary. At the halfway stage the Momentum Proteas were well set on 65-1.

Tazmin Brits played brilliantly and took the attack to the Aussie bowlers. But it was Georgia Wareham who spun the game completely in her side’s favour when she picked up the two huge wickets of Brits and Chloe Tryon in the 12th over. It was all Australia from there on out.

The Momentum Proteas fell flat in the second half of their innings and scored just 59 runs for the loss of five wickets as they struggled their way to a paltry 124-6 against a strong Australian outfit whom they’ve never beaten before.

Marizanne Kapp and Nonkululeko Mlaba picked up three wickets between themselves to have Australia 40 for three after seven overs, but with their batting depth and a meagre total of 125, the hosts were still under the pump.

Tahlia McGrath (57) and Ashleigh Gardner (28*) shared an 80-run partnership for the fourth wicket to steer Australia to a 6-wicket victory as they ended at the top of their group, making yet another semi-final.

No need for calculators as the math is pretty simple, with a superior net run rate, South Africa will need to beat Bangladesh convincingly on Tuesday and hope that New Zealand can defeat Sri Lanka on Sunday.