Published: Jul 12, 2017, 08:49 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 12, 2017, 10:17 PM (IST)
It was a commanding performance from South Africa, as they defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in the 22nd match of ICC Women’s World Cup. Sri Lanka’s sorry run in the tournament continued, losing their sixth game on the trot and were no match against the South African side. Electing to bat first, Sri Lanka managed to score only 101 runs in 40.3 overs, which their opponents chased down without dropping a sweat.
With the ball, South Africa were given a perfect start by Marizanne Kapp, who picked up the important wicket of Chamari Atapattu in her very first over. A couple of overs later, Shabnim Ismail got Hasini Perera out to a short ball. It was obviously not the kind of start that Sri Lanka would have liked after winning the toss.
The runs were hard to come by for the Sri Lankan batters. They struggled against the South African pacers as well as spinners. Chamari Polgampola and Prasadani Weerakkody added 43 runs for the third wicket, but they took as many as 14 overs to score those runs. The South African skipper Dane van Niekerk, then, introduced herself into the attack and in her second over and sent both set batters in the pavilion. Both Weerakkody and Polgampola attempted to play the sweep shots, which resulted in their downfall.
It was a kind of day where whatever bowling changes the South African skipper made worked beautifully for her team. This time around, she brought Sune Luus back into the attack and the leg-spinner got a lucky breakthrough, as she got Shashikala Siriwardene caught at deep mid-wicket with the help of a rank full-toss.
Sri Lanka’s dismal batting continued. They hardly scored any runs in the next five overs. At the end of 33 overs, the scoreboard read 86 for 5, which soon turned to 86 for 8 as they lost 3 more wickets in successive overs. Van Niekerk picked up two out of those three wickets, as she finished with another 4-wicket haul — her third 4-wicket haul in the tournament.
In the end, Shabnim Ismail picked up the last two wickets and wrapped up Sri Lanka’s innings for 101.
South Africa lost a couple of early wickets during the chase, but it wasn’t going to stop them from chasing down the target. The pair of Laura Wolvaardt and Mignon du Preez added 78 runs for the third-wicket partnership and helped their team to chase down the target in just 23.1 overs. They started off slowly, but once they got the measure of the pitch and it was just all too easy for both the batswoman.
Laura Wolvaardt, in particular, batted really well. She played some gorgeous shots in her innings of 48 and looked comfortable right throughout her innings. The manner in which the South African batters applied themselves, it looked like a completely different pitch from what Sri Lanka played on.
The comprehensive 8-wicket win has helped South Africa to jump up to No.1 position in the points table, and it has also boosted their NRR, which is going to be a crucial factor for them to qualify for the semi-finals.
Brief Scores:
South Africa Women 104 for 2 in 23.1 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 48*, Mignon du Preez 38*; Inoka Ranaweera 1 for 20) beat Sri Lanka Women 101 all-out in 40.3 overs (Chamari Polgampola 25, Dilani Manodara 25; Dane van Niekerk 4 for 24) by 8 wickets.
Player of the Match: Dane van Niekerk
