South Africa 118 for 6 (Dercksen 45, Nahida 2-24) beat Bangladesh 117 for 5 (Sobhana 42, Sultana 32, Mlaba 2-22) by four wickets
South Africa kept themselves in contention for the semi-final, but did it the hard way, in a nervy chase against Bangladesh in both teams’ first international at Lord’s. After Bangladesh chose to bat under cloudy skies at the game’s most iconic venue, South Africa had them 14 for 2 early on but a 56-run stand between Sharmin Akhter and Sobhana Mostary rescued them. Nigar Sultana’s 20-ball 32 not out lifted Bangladesh to 117 for 5 and in theory, on a good batting pitch, South Africa should have chased it down easily.
In practice, South Africa met their nemesis: the must-win game. They lost Laura Wolvaardt first ball and every time they edged ahead, Bangladesh pulled them back. A wonderful fielding display, in which they took every catch presented to them, meant Bangladesh were in it all the way through, and South Africa only reached the target with four balls to spare.
South Africa now face a nervy wait as Australia play India in the afternoon game. An Australian win will see South Africa progress but India will go through if they beat Australia.
Kapp, Ismail seize control
At the scene of her stunning 4 for 9 in the inaugural Hundred final in 2021, Marizanne Kapp struck with the first ball of the match, a fuller one pushed through as Juairiya Ferdous took a swing, only to hear her off stump clatter. Kapp bowled with excellent economy of just 2.25 to end with figures of 1 for 9 off four overs.
Shabnim Ismail sent down a maiden next over first up, while Kapp conceded just two runs off the third to keep Bangladesh under wraps. Ismail stymied them further with the wicket of Taj Nehar, struck on the front pad by a ball that jagged back in from slightly back of a length. Nehar’s appeal to the DRS failed on umpire’s call as the ball-tracking showed impact in line with the top of off, ending her laboured innings for just 1 off 12 balls.
By the end of the powerplay, Bangladesh were 23 for 2 but Sharmin and Sobhana staged a stubborn, if tentative, partnership worth 56 in 62 balls to offer some resistance. With Kapp bowled out by the end of the seventh over, Wolvaardt mixed up her attack, including Nadine de Klerk, who saw a short ball dispatched for six over deep square leg by Sobhana.
It wasn’t until the start of the 15th over that Nonkululeko Mlaba made the breakthrough, tossing one up outside leg stump as Sharmin advanced and was beaten by the turn as the ball crashed into the top of middle and off. Mostary faced 48 balls for her 42 before she skied a de Klerk short ball high and straight to short third. Sultana, the captain, was the only Bangladesh batter to proceed at a reasonable T20 rate as she tried to raise the total with an unbeaten 32 off 20 deliveries.
South Africa test their toughness again
Wolvaardt has not looked like her usual free-flowing self all tournament and she did not even get the chance to try to find form in this innings. Marufa Akter delivered a swerving first delivery that bent into the bat-pad gap and took out Wolvaardt’s off stump to leave South Africa 0 for 1 after one ball and without their best batter. That left it to Tazmin Brits, battling what looked like a glute strain, and Annerie Dercksen, a new No. 3, to steady the innings and chase down a modest target.
Memories of what happened in the Pakistan game would have been fresh in the mind after they lost eight wickets in chase of 126 but the architect of that innings was there today too. Dercksen’s first boundary was an inside-edged four but she soon found her touch when she got down on one knee and smashed Sanjida Akter Meghla over cow corner for six. The real challenge came when Brits, with whom she shared a 57-run second-wicket stand, and Dane van Niekerk were dismissed in successive overs. South Africa were 59 for 3 at the halfway mark and needed another 59 off the next ten overs. Dercksen batted for four more overs and got South Africa 31 runs away from winning but left it to Kapp.
Bangladesh squeeze right to the end/h2>
After Dercksen’s dismissal, Bangladesh did not concede a boundary for 18 deliveries and pressure on South Africa reached fever pitch. De Klerk broke the shackles when she sent Nahida Akter through the covers for four and brought the required run rate down to less than a run a ball. But any relief for South Africa was short-lived. De Klerk hit the next ball to point and wanted a single but Kapp hesitated and by the time she realised she had to go, it was too late. Sharmin swooped in and threw to the keeper’s end, where Kapp was short of her ground.
Advantage Bangladesh, and in the background, India.
De Klerk wrested it back when she moved across the stumps and hit Nahida over square leg for four. South Africa needed ten runs in two overs. They got five off the first four balls and didn’t need to do anything dramatic but de Klerk tried to finish in style and hit a Ritu Moni slower ball high to deep midwicket where Shorna Akter took a stunning catch. South Africa needed five off the last five and finally finished things off two balls into the last over.
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