South Africa reaches final and ends Australia’s title defense at Women’s T20 World Cup

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — South Africa stunned defending champion Australia in the first semifinal of the Women’s T20 World Cup on Thursday, winning by eight wickets to reach its second straight final.

In a reversal from the 2023 final at Cape Town, South Africa chased down Australia’s 134-5 with 16 balls to spare. Six-time champion Australia had won three straight titles.

Anneke Bosch led the way with 74 not out off 48 balls, including eight fours and a six, as the Proteas finished with 135-2 in 17.2 overs.

She had support from skipper Laura Wolvaardt, who set the early pace with three fours and a six in scoring 42 off 37 balls.

Having beaten Australia for the first time in this tournament’s history, South Africa now awaits the winner of the second semifinal between West Indies and New Zealand in Sharjah on Friday.

The final will be played in Dubai on Sunday.

It ended Australia’s 15-match winning run in the tournament. Since 2009, it is only the second time in nine Women’s T20 World Cups that the six-time champions failed to make the final.

“It’s gonna be pretty hard to take. We just didn’t really show up tonight, and can’t afford to do that in tournaments like this,” Australia’s stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath said.

McGrath was skipper in the place of Australia's star player and regular captain, Alyssa Healy, who suffered a foot injury earlier in the tournament.

South Africa had opted to bowl and made two vital early breakthroughs.

Opener Grace Harris was out caught for three off Ayabonga Khaka, while Georgia Wareham was caught off Marizanne Kapp for five runs.

Australia was down to 18-2 in the third over, but rescued by a 50-run partnership between Beth Mooney and McGrath.

Mooney top-scored with 44 off 42 balls, hitting two fours, and looked set to shepherd the innings to a competitive total.

Left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba got the breakthrough — she dismissed McGrath in the 13th over for 27 off 33 balls.

The turning point came in the 17th over — Kapp ran out Mooney. Ellyse Perry scored 31 off 23 balls to take them past 100. But Australia failed to gather sufficient momentum in the final overs.

Annabel Sutherland provided the early wicket in the chase — she bowled Tazmin Brits for 15.

But Wolvaardt and Bosch seized initiative to put on 96 off 65 balls for the second wicket — South Africa’s highest partnership for any wicket against Australia in T20s.

Bosch brought up her 50 off 31 balls, and went on to score the tournament’s highest individual score.

Sutherland did get the breakthrough in the 15th over, but it was too little too late for the outgoing champions, who were thoroughly outplayed on the night.

Bosch was named player of the match for her unbeaten knock.

"My heart is racing. It was tough out there and I am just glad we got past the finish line. We knew we are capable and had a good tournament coming into this game. To restrict them under 140 tonight was outstanding,” she said.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

South African players celebrate after wining against Australia during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

South Africa's Anneke Bosch and Chloé Tryon celebrate after wining against Australia during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

South Africa's Anneke Bosch and Chloé Tryon celebrate after wining against Australia during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

South African players celebrate after wining against Australia during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

South African players celebrate after wining against Australia during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

South Africa's Anneke Bosch and Chloé Tryon celebrate after wining against Australia during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

South African players celebrate after wining against Australia during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

South African players celebrate after wining against Australia during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

South Africa's Anneke Bosch and Chloé Tryon celebrate after wining against Australia during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A last-ditch effort to stop Texas from executing an autistic man in a shaken baby case stretched into the final hours Thursday night as one judge granted an extraordinary maneuver by lawmakers to delay the lethal injection while the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for it to proceed.

The judge granted a Texas House committee's request for a temporary restraining order to delay the execution of Robert Roberson so the condemned man could testify next week about his case at a hearing by lawmakers.

Roberson was scheduled Thursday evening to become the first person in the U.S. executed for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. The lawmakers on the committee, both Republicans and Democrats, are part of a diverse coalition who say Roberson is innocent in the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter and was convicted on faulty scientific evidence.

The order by state District Judge Jessica Mangrum was expected to be quickly appealed by the Texas Attorney General’s Office to the state's top criminal appeals court, which has previously denied on multiple occasions requests by Roberson to delay his planned lethal injection.

“This is an extraordinary remedy the Legislature is seeking. But it is not undue. The Legislature is allowed this constitutional authority,” state Rep. Jeff Leach, a Republican and member of the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, said during the Zoom court hearing.

The order was granted around the same time the U.S. Supreme Court refused to halt the execution plan, though Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote to urge Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to grant a 30-day delay.

“That could prevent a miscarriage of justice from occurring: executing a man who has raised credible evidence of actual innocence,” Sotomayor wrote.

Roberson, 57, was convicted of killing of his daughter, Nikki Curtis, in the East Texas city of Palestine. Roberson has long proclaimed his innocence, backed by some notable Republican lawmakers, Texas GOP megadonor and conservative activist Doug Deason and the lead detective on the case. Roberson's lawyers and some medical experts say his daughter died not from abuse but from complications related to pneumonia.

“He’s an innocent man and we’re very close to killing him for something he did not do,” said Brian Wharton, the lead detective with Palestine police who investigated Curtis’ death.

Roberson’s lawyers waited to see if Abbott would grant Roberson a one-time 30-day reprieve. It’s the only action Abbott can take in the case as the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Wednesday denied Roberson’s clemency petition.

The board voted unanimously, 6-0, to not recommend that Roberson’s death sentence be commuted to life in prison or that his execution be delayed. All members of the board are appointed by the governor. The parole board has recommended clemency in a death row case only six times since the state resumed executions in 1982.

In his nearly 10 years as governor, Abbott has halted only one imminent execution, in 2018 when he spared the life of Thomas Whitaker.

“We pray that Governor Abbott does everything in his power to prevent the tragic, irreversible mistake of executing an innocent man,” Gretchen Sween, one of Roberson’s attorneys, said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Abbott did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

The Texas committee on Wednesday held an all-day meeting on Roberson's case. In a surprise move at the end of the hearing, the committee issued a subpoena for Roberson to testify next week.

During its meeting in Austin, the committee heard testimony about Roberson’s case and whether a 2013 law created to allow people in prison to challenge their convictions based on new scientific evidence was ignored in Roberson’s case.

Anderson County District Attorney Allyson Mitchell, whose office prosecuted Roberson, told the committee a court hearing was held in 2022 in which Roberson’s attorneys presented their new evidence to a judge, who rejected their claims.

“Based on the totality of the evidence, a murder took place here. Mr. Roberson took the life of his almost 3-year-old daughter,” Mitchell said.

Most of the members of the committee are part of a bipartisan group of more than 80 state lawmakers, including at least 30 Republicans, who had asked the parole board and Abbott to stop the execution.

Roberson’s scheduled execution has renewed debate over shaken baby syndrome, known in the medical community as abusive head trauma.

His lawyers as well as the Texas lawmakers, medical experts and others, including bestselling author John Grisham, say his conviction was based on faulty and now outdated scientific evidence. The diagnosis refers to a serious brain injury caused when a child’s head is hurt through shaking or some other violent impact, like being slammed against a wall or thrown on the floor.

Roberson’s supporters don’t deny head and other injuries from child abuse are real. But they say doctors misdiagnosed Curtis’ injuries as being related to shaken baby syndrome and that new evidence has shown the girl died from complications related to severe pneumonia.

Roberson’s attorneys say his daughter had fallen out of bed in Roberson’s home after being seriously ill for a week.

Roberson’s lawyers also suggested his autism, which was undiagnosed at the time of his daughter’s death, was used against him as authorities became suspicious of him because of his lack of emotion over what had happened to her. Autism affects how people communicate and interact with others.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, other medical organizations and prosecutors say the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome is valid and doctors look at all possible things, including any illnesses, when determining if injuries were attributable to it.

Roberson’s scheduled execution would come less than a month after Missouri put to death Marcellus Williams amid lingering questions about his guilt and whether his death sentence should have instead been commuted to life in prison.

Roberson's execution was scheduled to take place on the same day Alabama was set to execute Derrick Dearman, condemned for killing five people with an ax and gun during a 2016 drug-fueled rampage.

Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at https://x.com/juanlozano70.

Prison staff gather at the main entrance of the building housing the execution chamber as Robert Roberson awaits his execution, at the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Texas state representatives Lacey Hull, left, and John Bucy III, speak to reporters on the pending execution of Robert Roberson during an impromptu press conference outside of the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Prison staff gather at the main entrance of the building housing the execution chamber as Robert Roberson awaits his execution, at the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Texas State Rep. John Bucy III speaks to reporters on the pending execution of Robert Roberson during an impromptu press conference outside of the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Texas state representatives Lacey Hull, left, and John Bucy III, speak to reporters on the pending execution of Robert Roberson during an impromptu press conference outside of the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Elizabeth Ramirez, center, Casandra Rivera, center right, and Anna Vasquez, second from right, of the "San Antonio 4" group, deliver boxes with petitions in the Texas State capitol for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott seeking the pardoning of Robert Roberson's execution, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, in Austin, Texas. Roberson, 57, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Oct. 17, for the 2002 killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in the East Texas city of Palestine. Roberson has long proclaimed his innocence. (AP Photo/Nadia Lathan)

Casandra Rivera, left, Anna Vasquez, second from left, and Elizabeth Ramirez, center, of the "San Antonio 4" group, hold boxes with petitions being delivered in the Texas State capitol for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott seeking the pardoning of Robert Roberson's execution, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Roberson, 57, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Oct. 17, for the 2002 killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in the East Texas city of Palestine. Roberson has long proclaimed his innocence. (AP Photo/Nadia Lathan)

Texas man set to be first in US executed over shaken baby syndrome makes last appeals

FILE - Texas lawmakers meet with Robert Roberson at a prison in Livingston, Texas, Sept. 27, 2024. (Criminal Justice Reform Caucus via AP, File)

Texas man set to be first in US executed over shaken baby syndrome makes last appeals