Tryon stars as SA win crucial World Cup tie against New Zealand

Chloe Tryon justifiably earned the affection of the Boland Park crowd with one of the great all-rounder performances by a Proteas player at a World Cup as the home team got their challenge back on track with a thumping win against New Zealand on Monday. 

Tryon top scored with 40 and then picked up two wickets as South Africa beat the Kiwis by 65 runs, giving their net run rate a helping hand and effectively knocking Sophie Devine’s team out of the competition.

That margin of victory looked extremely unlikely with South Africa again making hard work of it with the bat, constantly keeping New Zealand in the contest with poorly judged shots and once more a catastrophic run out. 

This was a crucial game for both teams after they’d lost their respective openers; South Africa with a poorly managed run-chase to Sri Lanka, while the Kiwis were hammered by their cross-Tasman rivals Australia.

South Africa posted 132/6 after Sune Luus had chosen to bat, saying the pitch was slow and would work in the favour of her team who carried the additional spinner in Delmi Tucker. 

That total really should have been more after Luus had played beautifully to turn around a poor start which saw the Proteas lose Tazmin Brits and Marizanne Kapp in the first three overs. 

Luus’ scored 22, hitting four fours, with the Proteas ending the power play on 44/2.

What should have been the foundation for a big total instead turned into a quagmire in the next few overs. 

Luus ran herself out chasing a single that wasn’t on, while Laura Wolvaardt played a wretched shot across the line and was bowled by Lea Tahuhu.

It was the inability to build partnerships which proved costly in the opening match against Sri Lanka last Friday and fortunately, thanks to Tryon and Nadine de Klerk, they avoided that on Monday.

That pair shared a stand of 47 for the sixth wicket in which their running between the wickets, after a sloppy start, was the standout feature. 

Tryon needed 34 balls to make 40, hitting six fours, while De Klerk rode her luck to finish not out on 28. 

Nonkululeko “lefty” Mlaba then underlined why she is ranked the No 2 bowler in the T20 format, with a superb start picking up two wickets, including the key one of Suzie Bates with a lovely slider. 

New Zealand never recovered. The Proteas, so listless at Newlands, surfed the wave of noise from a typically boisterous Paarl crowd. They were energetic in the field while Sinalo Jaftha, bar one error, was proficient behind the stumps, pulling off an excellent stumping to help Mlaba get her first wicket to go with three catches.

Tryon, obviously buoyed by her batting, turned her arm over and picked up the wickets of Devine and Maddy Green. Mlaba was the stand-out bowler taking 3/10. 

They will now head to Gqeberha for the mouth-watering clash with the defending champions, Australia, this weekend. After last Friday, that was a match they would have approached with trepidation, but with Monday’s performance they can go into it with greater self-belief.

* Earlier on Monday, England made it two wins from two thanks to a sublime showing from their spinners in a four-wicket victory over Ireland.

The trio of Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn and Charlie Dean were all on song, combining for eight wickets between them as Ireland stumbled from 80 for 2 to 105 all out. England required just 14.2 overs to knock off the total, with Alice Capsey doing the heavy lifting as her quickfire 51 ensured her side remained unbeaten.

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