Momentum Proteas pace woman Ayabonga Khaka grabbed four wickets to help her side over the line against England in the second semi-final of the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup at Newlands on Friday.

South Africa, who entered the match as underdogs after losing to England in the semi-finals in 2017 and 2022, put on a show with bat and ball to become the first South African cricket team to reach a World Cup final.

Aside from the heroic efforts of Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits, who both reached half-centuries, one player who also lifted her hand was Ayabonga Khaka.

Khakha took a total of three wickets in the 18th over, accompanied by her opening wicket of Danni Wyatt earlier in the innings.

Speaking to Cricket Fanatics Magazine after the match, Khakha at least tried to put her emotions into words and opened up about that crucial over that changed the direction of the match.

“To be honest, I don’t know how I feel; I’m just happy we are where we are today,” she said.

“I was scared in that over, but I knew what my role was in the team. “Having big players like Marizanne (Kapp) who continuously remind you of what you’re capable of and encourage you to do well really helped me.”

South Africa’s journey to the final was without a doubt a bumpy one after they lost their opening match and just qualified for the semi-finals thanks to their better net run rate.

However, Khaka believes that her side didn’t once doubt what they were capable of and always believed they would turn their misfortunes around.

“We were confident that we were going to progress from the semifinals,” she said confidently.

“We knew England and had played against them in several semi-finals, and they’d beaten us; we knew that today was the day we’d turn the tide.”

The 30-year-old Middledrift native will play the biggest match of her career when her side takes on Australia in the final on Sunday.

Instead of stressing and panicking, Khakha is adamant that her team knows and understands the task at hand.

“As a team, we know what we need to do; at this ground, you need to pile up the runs if you’re batting first.”

“We’ll take the momentum from today and see what we do on Sunday. “We’ll go with our plans and see how we play the game,” she concluded.

The ICC T20 Women’s World Cup final between South Africa and Australia will begin at 15:00 at Newlands on Sunday.