England defeated South Africa by nine wickets with 19 balls to spare, almost a flawless performance, which takes them into the final against Australia on Sunday. Two years ago, they lost by four runs to Australia in Colombo. The rematch should be compelling. The best sides in the women's game will be on show, even though both are eager to stress that the other nations are closing the gap.

Anya Shrubsole, England's player of the match against South Africa, predicts no more than a "really good game" on Sunday. "We have played against each other so often recently that there is nothing we don't know about each other. It's whoever performs best on the day."

Shrubsole delivered two body blows to South Africa, who had caused a surprise by reaching the semi-finals. She took important wickets in her first two overs that allowed England to assert their authority from the start. South Africa's 101 could have been worse – they were 33 for five after 10 overs – but it did not tax an England team looking ever more confident now that Charlotte Edwards and Sarah Taylor are approaching their best form. Their opening partnership of 67 ensured serenity in the team's bus shelter.

The South Africa innings had just about everything, except a challenging number of runs: expert swing-bowling, some defiant late-order hitting and five run-outsone of which contained enough slapstick comedy to guarantee being run on A Question of Sport in the near future.

Somerset's Shrubsole removed the leg-stumps of Lizelle Lee and Trisha Chetty with identical balls, perfect in-swingers. The key was that these deliveries did not swing from the arm; they only changed direction towards the end of their flightpath. Unsurprisingly, Edwards allowed Shrubsole to bowl out her four overs.

The opening bowler has had an excellent tournament with 12 wickets. One secret, she says, is keeping it simple. "Out here I've tried to bowl gun-barrel straight". In which case she has failed since the ball has been swinging for her. "At 20 I tried to bowl away-swingers," she added, "but that wasn't working. So I tried in-swing and so far that has worked quite well."

"Hoof" as Shrubsole is now known in the dressing room ("I'm not sure why. It might be something to do with prancing like a horse – and my feet are interesting") is endearingly devoid of too much gobbledegook. There was only one reference to the "right areas", and she is clearly enjoying herself here.

After Shrubsole's strikes, Rebecca Grundy, an emerging left-arm spinner, had Yolandi van der Westhuizen lbw. The the run-outs then began. Some were conventional, some were careless and one was farcical.

Sune Luus, while batting with Chloe Tryon, struck the ball over extra cover; both batsmen ran one; both, studying the progress of the ball intensely, sensed the chance of a second and set off but there are perils in ball-watching. They had just about completed half a run each when they were startled to collide mid-pitch with both falling in a humiliating heap on the pitch.

From here the run-out should have been straightforward, except for the fact that England's fielders had the ball buzzing around the outfield as if it was in a pinball machine. The first throw whizzed past the bowler; the second had Taylor stretching to gather it without disturbing the stumps. In the end, Luus had to pick herself up and go.

Tryon hit two sixes – oddly England have progressed to the final without hitting one – but the target of 102 was nowhere near enough. England had given a polished, professional performance and now they hope to reassert themselves as the world champions.

Clare Connor, the head of England Women's Cricket, indicated that the ECB intend to bolster their game to ensure that at least one of their sides are the best in the world. On 1 May new contracts will be in place. She said: "There will be 10 players in the top tier who will earn something similar to a young county pro, plus seven other contracts. It is now possible for young women to make a career as a professional cricketer."