Chloe Tryon keeps eye on 50 prize as SA take aim at semi-final place

Chloe Tryon has scored eight half-centuries in her 60 innings in one-day internationals‚ hammering 101 fours and 41 sixes along the way.

She’s passed 70 three times and been in the 90s once‚ and is squarely in the mould of the South African power hitters who have delighted supporters and devastated opponents for decades.

But Tryon has yet to make a 50 in a T20‚ and Thursday’s game against West Indies in St Lucia would be as good a place as any to put that right.

Better than most‚ in fact. The match is South Africa’s second in the World T20‚ and victory would go a long way towards putting them in the semi-finals.

No. 7 Tryon sat padded up in vain on Tuesday while the top five polished off the target set by Sri Lanka with nine balls to spare.

So she will be chomping at the bit to have a crack — not least because the match will be her 50th T20 international.

She’s been in the 30s seven times and once made it to 40 in the format‚ but despite her career strike rate of 142.45 those other 10 runs have proved elusive.

That’s not been helped by the fact that Tyron has only once been able to face 30 balls in an innings‚ and that 33 of her 40 trips to the crease have come at Nos. 5‚ 6 and 7‚ where opportunities can be limited.

But scoring 50‚ or more‚ in a big match is every player’s ambition‚ and South Africans should welcome Tryon’s desire to do so even after having played 121 internationals of all flavours.

“To make my first 50 … it’s something I want to tick off the list‚” Tryon said.

“It’s about playing more smartly and taking more responsibility.”

The rain that has soaked St Lucia for days could influence that hope and a lot more about Thursday’s game.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t [train on Wednesday]‚ but we learnt a lot from the last game‚” Tryon said.

“We’ve got to put all our ideas together but so far everyone’s in a really good space.”

That’s evident from the South Africans’ response to gifting Sri Lanka the highest score of their total of 99/8. Twenty-four of those runs were extras‚ and 19 of them wides.

“As a bowling unit‚ they were very upset‚” Tryon said.

“We’ve got to work on that because it’s something that we can control. But it was discussed right after the innings.”

South Africa won’t be able to afford a repeat of that lack of discipline against the Windies‚ the home side and defending champions.

The teams have met 16 times in T20s‚ and South Africa have won only four of those matches.

Better news for South Africa’s supporters is that two of those victories were achieved in the Caribbean in October.

Better yet would be Tryon‚ in her 50th T20‚ smashing 50 to win it.