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CloseValkerie Baynes is ESPNcricinfo’s General Editor October 9, 2024, 4:39 PM
South Africa took a step towards the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals with an impressive win over Scotland in Dubai on Wednesday.
South Africa, who needed an improvement in their net run rate to leapfrog West Indies to second place, won by 80 runs after defeating Scotland for 86 and improved their NRR to 1.527, one better for now. I got my grades. That’s more than unbeaten England, who beat South Africa on Monday and have a game in hand. South Africa have one more group match against Bangladesh on Saturday.
South Africa demonstrated its intentions through the opener of star batsmen Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Blitz in their 10-wicket win over West Indies in the first match, and the Marizanne Cup. All three posted quick scores in the 40s, leading the team to its highest total score of the tournament so far (5-for-166).
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Their bowling performance, led by Nonkululeko Mlaba’s three hits in 12 at bats, was the most brutal dismantling of the team.
Wolvaardt charged up the pitch and drove Olivia Bell for a six in the fourth over, the best powerplay of the tournament so far as she and the Englishman surged to 60 without a loss. That was sufficient evidence.
“It’s always a tricky game, even a game like today, but I knew I had to do my best,” Kapp said after the game. “That was our message throughout this tournament. Let’s be a little more aggressive on the power play. I think we got off to a great start today in the opening game.”
The Englishman’s merciless swipe at long-on Catherine Fraser in the ninth over further strengthened South Africa’s momentum, with Kapp going for six boundaries on the way to a 24-ball 43.
But then I heard Nadine de Klerk’s furious yell of “Come on!” It said it all when she pinned Priyanaz Chatterjee over the top of middle stump to reduce Scotland to five down for just 39 runs. South Africa meant business.
They didn’t let up, with some soft catches and others difficult, like Soone Roos diving gracefully to her left to catch Lorna Jack-Brown off her own bowling.
De Klerk’s second wicket celebration was more subdued, but his dismissal was equally spectacular, with Mlaba darting forward in short third to grab the tip of Abu Taha Maqsood, looking up from the turf with a big grin on his face. With a smile on his face, the game was won.
Mhlaba set up the victory over the West Indies with a career-best 4 for 29, and is South Africa’s top wicket-taker in a single competition this year, surpassing his previous T20 World Cup debut. He is threatening nine wickets. Mlaba has eight wickets so far, the same as Shabnim Ismail, who retired in 2023, with an average of 7.87 wickets and an economy rate of 5.25.
A difficult period for Mlaba followed during the World Cup, during which he only took 14 wickets in 19 matches, averaging 38.40 wickets.
“If you think about this World Cup, she wasn’t at her best and she knows that. Then she goes to the World Cup and somehow manages to find her best,” Kapp said. Ta. “So this is a good sign for us. Hopefully she can continue like this in the next few games. But I’m very proud of her for turning things around so quickly.” I think so.”
Scotland want to play against top teams
Scotland’s batting card was disappointing with just two players reaching double figures and no one topping Fraser’s 14.
Chatterjee remained optimistic, saying Scotland were continuing to learn from their experience as they got here through qualifying, but also stressed the need for such opportunities outside of major tournaments. .
“It’s tough, but we’re a resilient group and that’s part of cricket, part of high-performance sport,” Chatterjee said. “The best teams leave, but they learn and move on and do the best they can. But yeah, it’s disappointing to lose, it’s always disappointing to lose, and big losses like that aren’t very fun. No, but I thought they played very well.
Katherine Fraser tops the scoring with 14 points/Getty Images
“The important thing is that we want to play these teams more often. I think South Africa are the highest ranked team we’ve ever played against, so we want to play games against higher ranked teams. It would be great if we could do that. If we can get back-to-back games like this, we will learn a lot, we will grow and we will definitely improve.”
Scotland are still a semi-professional team, and when you compare their system to South Africa and Australia, who have far more resources than South Africa or Australia, the difference is stark.
“There is a significant gap,” Chatterjee said. “Being an associate country is pretty tough, and I think it’s a double whammy to have an associate and a women’s team. That being said, when you look at the overall budget between countries, especially when you compare associates and full teams, And it makes a very big difference.” – Dear Member States, we will do everything we can.
“But when we are apart, there will be no excuses. The overall structure, the match schedule and how we can get more support from the governing bodies, the ICC etc. and which “We need to have a very important conversation about how we can help.” That happens to grow the game, but the most important thing for us is that we need to play more at a higher level. That’s it.”
