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| A gloomy day in Pretoria – particularly for South Africa© Cricinfo |
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Heavy rain across Pretoria washed out all matches in the final round of the group stage of the women’s World Cup. Australia will now face England in the first semi-final on Tuesday, then New Zealand take on India on Thursday.And the rain washed away South Africa’s chance to automatically qualify for the next World Cup – by the slimmest of margins: just one run. Had they scored 127 instead of 126 against Sri Lanka they would have gained a bonus point, and qualified for the next World Cup by finishing sixth. Now, after rain prevented them playing against New Zealand today, they will have to pre-qualify. It is a situation their male counterparts are more than familiar with, and on home soil, too: in 2003 South Africa men were also knocked out of their World Cup by one run.The top four, West Indies and Sri Lanka have guaranteed their places at the next tournament.