Class aplenty as South Africa flex their all-round might vs New Zealand to come back from opening-game collapse.
From collapse to class: SA flex their muscle to restore WC credentials.
After 69 all out, how can you bounce back?
In her 350th international match, Marizanne Kapp did just that by hitting Suzie Bates on the pads with the first ball and putting her out lbw. Taking the wicket that causes the opposition to collapse to 7 for 44 is how Nonkululeko Mlaba does that.
To accomplish so, if you’re Laura Wolvaardt, you extend your right arm and grab the ball out of the air to make what might be the tournament’s most impressive catch. If you’re Sune Luus, you accomplish it by playing alongside Tazmin Brits, your team’s most productive batsman, in South Africa’s greatest partnership in a World Cup.
Oh, and if you’re actually Brits? By becoming the only women’s player to score five ODI hundreds in a calendar year, and anchoring a successful chase of 232.
South Africa returned to the tournament with a great all-around performance in their second World Cup encounter, leaving New Zealand with 0 points from two games. But after their miserable performance against England in the first game, it was the way they accomplished it that will make them the happiest.
Squeezing New Zealand in the first half of their innings and then hitting them hard in the second half to restrict them to a modest score, South Africa seldom made a mistake. Nevertheless, 232 was a long way off after South Africa’s shockingly bad batting display three days prior.
The British had already reached four hundreds this year before this game, including three consecutive victories against Pakistan and the West Indies. In Lahore, she achieved a career-high 171*. She was so offended by getting bowled for five by Linsey Smith against England in the opening World Cup match in South Africa that she lost her appetite.
From being primarily a leg-side player, Brits are now able to access the off side as well. She scored 68 runs, including 27 through or over mid-off, on the off side against New Zealand, accounting for more than two-thirds of her total.
If she keeps up her current pace, the British could break Wolvaardt’s record during this World Cup. She has also surpassed Meg Lanning, who scored her first seven hundreds in 44 innings, and has more hundreds in 41 ODI innings than anyone else at the same point in their career.
Fortunately, she also has a clear reason to believe that this century is unique. In addition to being her maiden World Cup appearance, it was also South Africa’s third overall, and there was a special celebration for the archer.
South Africa is still in negative territory even though they hit the mark in 41 overs, which has improved their net run rate. They can consider overs 30 to 40, in which they scored 46 runs, to be a handbrake. South Africa doesn’t want to fall far behind in a competition where the weather may still have a big impact and five or six teams may end up vying for one or two semi-final positions.
However, they have their first points, and that’s a start following the humiliation of being out at 69. The following phase is to travel for another day to play the hosts, India, who are undefeated, in Vizag. This match could be crucial in deciding the semi-finalists.