SA W vs BAN W | Twitter impressed as Kapp, Tryon, and De Klerk power South Africa home in thriller

‌South Africa moved up to third in the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup points table with a thrilling three-wicket win over Bangladesh in Visakhapatnam on Monday. After being reduced to 78/5, Marizanne Kapp and Chloe Tryon set the path for an improbable win with fighting fifties before Nadine de Klerk took the team over the line in a nail-biting finish.

Bangladesh had a cautious start after opting to bat at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, with openers Rubya Haider and Fargana Hoque adding just 28 runs in the first 10 overs. In a bid to accelerate, Rubya tried to slog sweep Chloe Tryon in the first ball of the 17th over, but miscued it straight to mid-on. Fargana was the next to depart as Nonkululeko Mlaba trapped her right in front of the stumps as the Tigresses struggled at 73/2 at the halfway mark. However, Sharmin Akhter and captain Nigar Sultana Joti bettered things with their 77-run stand for the third wicket, in 91 balls. Shorna Akter joined Sharmin in the middle once the skipper departed with 10 overs remaining. The latter completed a patient half-century in the next over before departing for a 77-ball 50, a knock which consisted of six boundaries. However, Shorna changed the complexion of the game with her counterattacking fifty, in just 34 balls, the fastest by a Bangladesh batter in women’s ODIs. She smashed three sixes and three fours during her unbeaten knock of 51 in 35 balls as the Tigresses ended their innings at 232/6. The all-rounder first added 31 runs for the fifth wicket with Sobhana Mostary before building another vital stand of 37, in just 18 balls, with Ritu Moni, who chipped in with an entertaining cameo of 19 off eight balls. Left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba was the pick among the Proteas bowlers with a spell of 2/42 in 10 overs.

Chasing 233, the Proteas had a dreadful start with in-form batter Tazmin Brits departing cheaply in the second over of the innings. However, skipper Laura Wolvaardt and new batter Anneke Bosch steadied the ship with a 55-run stand before a terrible mix-up between the pair kick-started an imminent collapse. Both Wolvaardt and Bosch hesitated while going for a non-existent double with the skipper caught in no man’s land and walking back after a promising start. From 58/1, they slipped to 78/5 in the gap of seven overs, with Marizanne Kapp and Chloe Tryon left to do the heavy lifting. The pair rebuilt the innings admirably with an 85-run stand for the sixth wicket that reignited the hopes of a third straight win. With 83 runs required from the last 11 overs, Kapp tried shifting gears with a six off the first ball, which brought up her fifty, and followed it up with a four. The all-rounder hit four fours and a six, making 56 off 71 balls, before getting caught at long off while attempting a big hit off Nahida Akter. Her partner Tryon, however, was still there getting to her half-century with a lucky reprieve in the deep in the 44th over. She hit a six and four more off Rabeya Khan in the same over as the equation came down to 37 off the remaining 36 balls. But in another shoddy instance of the Proteas’ running between the wickets, Tryon was caught short off a direct hit from Ritu. The spin bowling all-rounder played a crucial knock of 62 off 69 balls, hitting six fours and a six. Though both half-centurions departed, de Klerk pulled off yet another finishing spectacle to take the side home with three balls to spare. The all-rounder hit four fours and a six during her unbeaten 29-ball 37 to take them to 235/7. For Bangladesh, it was so near yet so far as they dropped catches at crucial stages of the game to let the game slip off. Left-arm spinner Nahida finished with figures of 2/44, while Ritu, Rabeya Khan, and Fahima Khatun had a wicket each.