It was the battle between the old warhorses: in the red corner, Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt, with 69 years and 597 caps between them; and in the blue yellow corner, Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail, with 74 years and 537 caps.

And so-being, it was also a battle between bat and ball: two of the most accomplished batters of their generation, Knight and Sciver-Brunt, versus two of the greatest bowlers, Kapp and Ismail. All four will go down as greats; but only two could be on the winning side tonight, and this time it was Knight and Sciver Brunt, whose partnership of 133 pulled England out of the mire and set them up for victory and the chance to face Australia in Sunday’s World Cup final.

The balance between bat and ball in cricket has been nurtured over hundreds of years, and it is a delicate one. A batter can of course only afford a single mistake; but on the flipside they can play much more of the game than a bowler. Kapp and Ismail bowled their maximum quota – 40% of the game; but Knight and Sciver-Brunt faced 78% of the balls. In the end, those numbers told.

As they have done generally in this tournament, South Africa made the decision to play all their biggest cards up-front, all-but bowling out Kapp and Ismail in the powerplay. It was a gamble that very nearly paid off in a match which South Africa did not come into as favourites. England scored just 35 runs in the powerplay, 17 of them from Ismail’s first over, which could so easily have gone the other way, with Danni Wyatt-Hodge twice trying to cut and getting bottom-edges which could have gone anywhere.

Before they knew it, England were 3 down – Jones out tamely caught on the ring; Wyatt-Hodge comprehensive bowled by Kapp; and Capsey given out LBW, declining to review when she would have been reprieved by the thinnest of edges. One more wicket, and South Africa would have been really on top, and possibly on their way to Lord’s; but Knight and Sciver-Brunt knew they had time to see off Kapp and Ismail, so they focussed on just getting through those overs.

England went nearly 3 overs without a boundary, which feels like a cardinal sin at that stage of the match; but the wily old warhorses knew what they were doing. When the bowling changes came, so did England’s acceleration, moving through the gears in the early middle overs, without ever getting reckless. Both faced exactly the same number of balls – 47 – with Sciver-Brunt pulling her way to 75, and Knight lofting herself over the ring to 58.

South Africa had burnt through both their reviews by the 10th over; but it didn’t turn out to matter, because neither gave any real chances until they were dismissed trying to lift the rate even higher at the death.

170 at The Oval is definitely an easier chase than the same number at Lord’s; but it was never going to be “easy” for South Africa, who needed Laura Wolvaardt to discover the big innings she’d failed to find within her in the tournament so far, with highs of 44 against Australia and 45 versus the Netherlands. Before the game she had promised the media that she hadn’t forgotten how to bat, and she there were a couple of glimpses of that, with two beautiful drives off Charlie Dean and Linsey Smith. But just as she looked like she might be finding the middle of her bat again, she lofted another drive over Sophie Ecclestone at mid on… only for Sophie Ecclestone to pull out a stunning leap and hang on to one of the best catches she will ever take.

Was it over then?

Not entirely; but England continued to bowl tightly, and their fielding was top-shelf stuff – Laphroaig to South Africa’s Johnnie Walker. England chased balls on the boundary that South Africa hadn’t got anywhere near, exemplified by Linsey Smith running one down at cover that looked 4 all the way off the bat – Smith diving headlong to make the pull-back, somersaulting over the boundary sponge, and then getting back up to put in the return throw.

The depth of South Africa’s batting means you feel can’t ever count them out. Against India, they’d come back from the dead once in this tournament already; thanks to a once in a lifetime hand from Kapp; but every time someone looked to stand up, England cut them down again. Sune Luus pummelled a lovely shot down the ground… and was caught by Ecclestone (another very decent take) directly after; Tazmin Brits passed 50… and then played a careless stroke to get caught off a thick edge on the ring.

By the time Nadine de Klerk came to the middle, however good she can be, it was never going to be good enough; and by the final couple of overs England knew they were off to Lord’s – the concentration levels dropped, and there was a bit of showboating; but Charlie Dean (for example) was probably right not to go for a catching opportunity at long on when South Africa needed 47 off the final over – why risk a ball in the teeth when the game is done?

Was this game the real test that England needed ahead of a final against an unstoppable-looking Australia? Not really; but England have done all that they could have – they have beaten the teams in front of them, and beaten them well. If Australia perform to their potential, England will struggle on Sunday, but if Australia give them in inch, can they take the mile they’ll need? We still don’t know the answer to that question; but I’m certainly more confident now than I was 3 weeks ago that the warhorses can win one final battle together.