Potchefstroom (Senves Park). South Africa defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets in the first T20 match in a thrilling manner on the basis of captain Laura Wolvaardt’s half-century and the collective batting performance of the team. The match was decided on the last ball. This match was played late Tuesday night local time.
Batting first, Pakistan had a bad start and at one point the team had lost 6 wickets for 64 runs. After this, captain Fatima Sana single-handedly handled the innings. Sana played a stormy inning of 90 runs in just 41 balls, which included seven sixes and nine fours. Thanks to his aggressive batting, Pakistan made a challenging score of 180 runs for 9 wickets in 20 overs.
Kayla Reyneke gave a brilliant all-round performance for South Africa. In bowling, he took 2 wickets for 13 runs including one maiden in 4 overs. Ayanda Hlubi (3/41) and Nonkuleleko Malaba also put pressure on Pakistan in the early overs.
South Africa’s chase of the target had a positive start. Tazmin Brits hit some attractive shots, but became the victim of Humana Bilal in the fourth over. After this, Wolvaardt and Sune Luus made a quick partnership of 62 runs and put the team in a strong position.
Luus was out after scoring 32 runs, but Wolvaardt continued his aggressive attitude and completed his half-century in 31 balls. In the 13th over, he scored a fifty by hitting a six and a four. However, after this Pakistan made a comeback and got Wolvaardt (61 runs) stumped out, while Dane Van Niekerk and Lara Goodall also returned to the pavilion early.
After 17 overs, South Africa’s score was 153/5 and the team needed 28 runs to win. In the end, Kayla Reyneke (29 not out off 16 balls) took the lead. 10 runs were needed in the last over. Humana Bilal scored 6 runs on the first three balls. South Africa needed 2 runs on the last ball, on which Reyneke hit a brilliant six and gave the team a thrilling victory.
Brief Score:
Pakistan – 180/9 (20 overs)
Fatima Sana 90, Natalia Parvez 20; Ayanda Hlubi 3/41, Kayla Reyneke 2/13
South Africa – 185/5 (20 overs)
Laura Wolvaardt 61, Sune Luus 32, Kayla Reyneke 29*; Nashara Sandhu 2/27.
South Africa won by 5 wickets.
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