Proteas hold nerve in final-over thriller to edge Bangladesh

Marizanne Kapp and Chloe Tryon made crucial half-centuries as the Proteas beat Bangladesh by three wickets in their ICC Women’s World Cup round-robin clash in Visakhapatnam, India, on Monday.

Chasing 233 for their third consecutive victory, there were plenty of nervous moments on both sides at ACA-VDCA Stadium before Kapp (56), Tryon (62) and later a pressure-cooker 37 not out from Nadine de Klerk saw South Africa to victory with three balls to spare.

After suffering an embarrassing thrashing by England in their round-robin opener, Laura Wolvaardt’s team claimed impressive consecutive wins over New Zealand and then hosts India.

The confidence in the Proteas’ camp would have been high and they were in control early on.

But after taking their foot off Bangladesh’s throat, they let it slip and the subcontinent side managed to scramble their way to 232 for six.

South Africa’s chase started disastrously with opener Tazmin Brits presenting a straightforward caught-and-bowled chance to Nahida Akter to be dismissed without scoring off the first ball she faced.

But captain Laura Wolvaardt and Anneke Bosch then looked comfortable in posting 55 runs for the second wicket until self-imposed disaster struck.

Wolvaardt and Bosch had a terrible misunderstanding mid-pitch and the skipper was run out for 31.

That triggered a collapse from a position of reasonable strength as the team lost four wickets for the next 20 runs.

At 78 for five, the outlook was bleak, but the experience of Kapp and Tryon steadily helped pull their team back into the game with a sixth-wicket stand of 85 in 109 deliveries.

When Kapp departed, it was left to Tryon and the in-form De Klerk to take the team home from a position of 78 to win off 58 balls.

But there was drama when Tryon became the second run-out victim with 35 runs required from 31 and Masabata Klaas joined De Klerk in the middle.

Having won the game for the Proteas against India, De Klerk was up to the task again and got the job done with some level-headed support from Klaas (10 not out).

Wolvaardt admitted she would have preferred to bat first, but she was denied that option when Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty won the toss and chose to take first strike.

Bangladesh had started the tournament with a bang by beating Pakistan but their batters let them down in the next two games and they slid to defeats against England and New Zealand.

So it came as little surprise when their top order adopted a cautious approach to their innings.

Some would have argued it was too cautious as they crawled to 73 for two at the halfway stage, with South Africa keeping them on a tight leash.

But the Tigresses would use this platform as a solid launchpad to score 159 more runs in the second 25 overs to post a highly competitive total on a testing surface.

It was built by solid contributions from Sharmin Akther (50), skipper Joty (32) and a destructive cameo from Shorna Akter.

Whereas Sharmin’s knock came off a watchful 77 balls, aggressive right-hander Shorna blasted 51 in only 35 deliveries.

It was Bangladesh’s fastest-ever half-century in ODI cricket and included three fours and as many sixes.

Left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba eventually had the most success, taking two for 42.

South Africa play Sri Lanka next on Friday.

The Herald