After beating New Zealand in match 16 of the ongoing ICC Women’s World Cup on Thursday, South African skipper Sune Luus said her side is not exerting much pressure for the upcoming clash against Australia. The fiery spell of Ayabonga Khaka and Shabnim Ismail, backed up by Laura Wolvaardt’s blistering knock, helped South Africa beat New Zealand by three wickets in the ongoing ICC Women’s ODI World Cup here at Seddon Park. “It’s a rollercoaster of emotions. We probably made it harder than it should have been. But at the end of the day we’ll take the points and go. I don’t think we did badly, we started well and had a good power play. Devine played a good knock in the middle but we came back nicely at the end. They were around 40th over 200 and we did well to limit them to 228”, said Sune Luus after the game.
“We regrouped well and my partnership with Laura was crucial. We probably should have stayed until the end and made it through, but Kapp did a great job. Australia is always a good competitive game. There’s not too much pressure on us. We’ll look to improve the little things and take it from there,” she added.
Sophie Devine’s innings of 93 were in vain as South African bowlers Ismail and Khaka respectively scalped three wickets that faced New Zealand at 228.
Chasing 229, South Africa got off to a fast start, but opener Lizelle Lee was eliminated in the fifth left with 25 runs on the board. Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits then held the ship steady for the second wicket. They perfectly mixed caution with aggression to make sure there was no further damage. But later, British was sent back to the pavilion with 18 runs by Amelia Kerr.
Halfway through the stage, South Africa was 105/2, taking 124 more runs for the win. Skipper Sune Luus took her side to the 150-run with Wolvaardt. Laura Wolvaardt hit a stunning 50, her 3rd in a row. Their partnership was broken in the 35th over by Amelia Kerr when Wolvaardt was sacked after scoring 67 points.
Mignon du Preez joined the skipper, but he was sent back by Kerr after scoring one run. Luus crushed a crucial fifty in 38th over. Luus left shortly after she hit 50 when Hannah Rowe gave her party a big break in the 40th over.
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Later, Marizanne Kapp made sure there was no further damage. She continued to thrash the New Zealand bowlers, bringing her team home with two wickets and their fourth straight win in the ongoing tournament.
Previous hosts failed to score big against a disciplined South African attack. An excellent innings of 93 from Sophie Devine helped New Zealand achieve a decent total in the game against South Africa.
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