Host South Africa kept their hopes alive in the ongoing eighth edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup after they beat New Zealand by 65 runs. A dominant display with the ball saw the Proteas bundle out the Kiwis for just 67 runs, having scored 132/6 in their 20 overs. The win also helped the hosts to register their first points on the board and take their Net Run Rate (NRR) to a positive account while the crushing defeat now means, New Zealand have lost both their opening matches of the Women’s T20 World Cup.
Mlaba makes her mark
Nonkululeko Mlaba (3/10) lit up the Powerplay, removing both of New Zealand’s openers for ducks, meaning that the White Ferns have returned 0/4 from their opening batters so far in this tournament. Mlaba, ranked second in the ICC Women’s T20I Bowling Rankings, had Bernadine Bezuldenhout brilliantly stumped off just the second ball of the innings.
And the spinner was at it again in her second over, cleaning up Suzie Bates and celebrating in style. Sophie Devine dropped herself from opener down to number five in the batting order, but the captain was out in the middle inside the Powerplay as Georgia Plimmer was caught off Marizanne Kapp.
The White Ferns were struggling on 13/3 in their chase of 133, and things went from bad to worse when Amelia Kerr edged behind to depart for 10 (12). The Kiwis reached just 19/4 at the end of the Powerplay, and Chloe Tryon dismissed Maddy Green to leave New Zealand five down and relying hugely on Devine to bail them out at Boland Park.
But wickets continued to fall, and when Devine was trapped in front by Tryon the jig was all but up. And South Africa wrapped up the victory in the penultimate over, winning by 65 runs to give their net run rate a huge and potentially-crucial boost.
Earlier, the Proteas had won the toss and opted to bat first, hoping to follow the lead set by Ireland and England in the earlier game on this ground, which saw runs flow during both Powerplays. But early wickets stunted the home side’s early impetus.
It was Tazmin Brits (1) who fell in the opening over, trapped lbw by Eden Carson as New Zealand opted to start with spin first up. And Marizanne Kapp joined Brits back in the dugout when she plinked a mistimed shot straight to Jess Kerr off Lea Tahuhu for 9 (10 balls). Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus led the rebuild, with South Africa reaching 44/2 by the end of the Powerplay, but a mix-up saw Luus sacrifice herself after making a big error between the wickets.
Tahuhu cleaned up Wolvaardt (13) to make it 55/4, but Tryon and South Africa’s lower middle combined to reach a competitive score. Tryon top-scored with 40 from 34 balls, while Nadine de Klerk finished unbeaten on 28* (26), and those rescue efforts proved to give the bowlers more than enough to work with.
South Africa’s star spinner provided magic moments with the ball, ripping into the New Zealand top order and pumping up the atmosphere at Boland Park. Mlaba’s figures of 3/10 were a richly-deserved return for a bowler who took the new ball and set the tone for the win.
England at their fluent best
The meeting between South Africa and New Zealand came after England had produced a superb performance to smash Ireland by four wickets with almost six overs remaining at Boland Park. England’s spin trio took eight wickets between them, while young Alice Capsey starred with the bat, hammering the joint-fastest half-century at a Women’s T20I World Cup.
