South Africa had to dig deep in another tight game on Monday, but they maintained their composure to wrap up a three-wicket victory over Bangladesh with just three balls to spare at the Women’s Cricket World Cup.
Set a target of 233 runs to win in Visakhapatnam, the SA team lost in-form opener Tazmin Brits for a duck in the second over, and they hobbled their way to 78/5 midway through their innings.
But they were resurrected by middle-order batters Marizanne Kapp (56 off 71) and Chloe Tryon (62 off 69) who both scored half-centuries, sharing 85 runs for the sixth wicket to keep the Proteas in the match.
While Kapp and Tryon both fell in the latter stages of the innings, lower-order batter Nadine de Klerk stood up again (after carrying South Africa to a phenomenal victory over India three days earlier), carrying them over the line.
De Klerk bashed 37 not out off 29 balls at the death, as she guided the Proteas to 235/7, hitting a six in the final over to carry them home.
Bangladesh innings
Earlier, after winning the toss and choosing to bat, Bangladesh’s batters combined well, but they struggled to pick up the run-rate and build big partnerships.
While the Proteas attack piled on the pressure for most of the innings, the Tigresses held on to wickets and laid a solid foundation, led by top-order batter Sharmin Akhter who made 50 off 77.
With wickets in hand at 150/3 with a little less than 10 overs remaining in the innings, 18-year-old Shorna Akter added a quickfire 51 not out off 35 balls to boost her team’s total as they reached 232/6 in their 50 overs.
Akter reached her first career ODI half-century off just 34 deliveries, setting a Bangladesh women’s record for the fastest fifty in a 50-over international.
They were not as destructive as they might have liked against a conservative Bangladesh line-up, but the SA bowlers did well to keep the innings under control, spearheaded by spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba who took 2/42.
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