Proteas, oh Proteas: Women’s teamhandles heat better than malecounterparts

26 June 2017 - 07:14 By Telford ViceLondon
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CLINCHER: South Africa's Shabnim Ismail hits a hefty four to win the game against Pakistan by three wickets in Leicester, UK, yesterday. Ismail was voted player of the matchPicture: LEE SMITH/ACTION IMAGES VIA REUTERS
CLINCHER: South Africa's Shabnim Ismail hits a hefty four to win the game against Pakistan by three wickets in Leicester, UK, yesterday. Ismail was voted player of the matchPicture: LEE SMITH/ACTION IMAGES VIA REUTERS

Men are apparently from Mars and women from Venus, but cricket-minded South Africans of whatever gender wouldn't have had to think too hard before picking their preferred planet yesterday.

Normal service resumed for South Africa's men in Cardiff, where England clinched the T20 series but their women counterparts got their World Cup campaign off to a rousing start with victory over Pakistan in Leicester.

AB de Villiers' team went down by 19 runs in the deciding game of the rubber, bringing to six the number of defeats they have suffered in the nine matches they have played in England.

Dane van Niekerk talked tough leading into the tournament and her team backed her up by surging to a three-wicket win with an over to spare.

Both of South Africa's teams were put under pressure in matches that could have gone either way.

Only one survived that test.

Any jokes about all those years spent in the kitchen inuring women to the heat will come with a punchline of mandatory membership of Misogynists Anonymous.

What do you call a bowler who claims two-thirds of two hat-tricks? Unlucky? On fire?

In Cardiff yesterday, you called him Dane Paterson - who was twice on a hat-trick.

Paterson couldn't quite seal the deal on either occasion but that didn't matter nearly as much as the fact that he put the brakes on England with his haul of 4/32.

That limited the home side to a total of 181/8 when they seemed set for far more.

They got that far thanks to London-born, and Boland-raised and schooled Dawid Malan and his hard-hit 78 off 44 balls.

Malan shared 105 for the second with Alex Hales, and his dismissal in the 14th over was the start of a slide of 6/54.

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