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South Africa Women 197 for 1 (Wolvaardt 115*, Luus 67) beat India Women 193 for 4 (Verma 71, Rodrigues 54) by nine wickets
Laura Wolvaardt and Suné Luus walked off the Bullring looking almost puzzled at how straightforward a target of 193 had felt. Their reply, 197 for 1 with nine balls to spare, came on a Wanderers surface that behaved more like its pace-friendly self than the slower versions seen earlier in the season.
“We kept each other pretty calm out there,” Wolvaardt said on the host broadcaster. “It’s new territory to find ourselves on 70-odd after the Powerplay but once we got that, we told each other we have to keep going.”
Powerplay mayhem
The openers rattled up 72 in the first six overs, the highest Powerplay return by a South African women’s side. By the ninth over Wolvaardt had reached fifty from just 23 balls – fastest for her country – and Luus wasn’t far behind. Their eventual stand of 183 is South Africa’s second-best for the first wicket and effectively settled the contest before anyone else reached the crease.
“We knew we had so much power in the dug-out so we just had to get as much as we could,” Wolvaardt added. “And then once we got out of the Powerplay, I just tried to win the game as quickly as I could.”
Conditions, opposition and the odd drop
The skipper sensed decent batting conditions straight away. “I realised pretty early on that the ball was sliding on nicely,” she explained. “My main thought was to max the Powerplay and once we got out of the Powerplay, just try to stay with the rate. I knew chasing 190, we needed a pretty good start so I just came out with a lot of intent. The wicket was nice and flat.”
India contributed to their own discomfort by grassing Wolvaardt on 31 and again on 85. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur admitted her bowlers struggled for answers: South Africa “didn’t give us a single chance to come back into the game,” she said, before conceding they “didn’t have any second answer for them.”
The hundreds column
Wolvaardt’s unbeaten 115 is her third T20I century and equals her highest score in the format, a reminder of her growing range beyond the orthodox stroke-making for which she was once known. She smiled while calling the innings “a lot of fun,” and made a point of acknowledging her partner: Luus, she said, “batted pretty well too.”
Selection headaches of the pleasant kind
The opening combination was only tried at the start of this series but now looks set to remain at the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh later this year. Tazmin Brits seems earmarked for No.3, and that is before Marizanne Kapp – recovering from illness – is even factored in. Add Annerie Dercksen, Kayla Reyneke and Anneke Bosch to the queue and coach Hilton Moreeng suddenly has more depth than ever in the top five.
Eyes on the sweep
This is just the second time South Africa have claimed a bilateral T20I series against India, and the first at home. Earlier victories over Ireland and Pakistan mean they are unbeaten on this summer’s home schedule, New Zealand’s 4-1 success in February the sole blemish. Wolvaardt, however, is wary of complacency with two matches left. Beating India, she noted, “is not something you get to do every day.”
The visitors now require back-to-back wins merely to avoid a whitewash, while the hosts have an opportunity to bank more ranking points and fine-tune combinations before the global event. The mood in the South African camp is upbeat yet measured – exactly how their captain likes it.
