Proteas women fall well short in Black Day match v Pakistan
· Citizen
A middle-order fightback was not enough to chase down Pakistan’s imposing 306/8, as the Proteas Women lost the third ODI by 119 runs in Durban.
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While it was something of a dead rubber in the series, after South Africa clinched an unassailable 2-0 lead, the final game offered points in the ICC Women’s Championship, the qualifying competition for the 2029 Women’s Cricket World Cup.
The Proteas women donned a black kit for the annual Black Day match, raising awareness of gender-based violence.
But their poor bowling, and worse batting left a Durban crowd feeling gloomy after the hosts collapsed to 187 all out after 36.2 overs.
Dark day for Proteas women
Chasing the sizeable target, the Proteas women were always struggling after finding themselves at 7-3 inside the first three overs.
Captain Laura Wolvaardt (1), Tazmin Brits (4) and Suné Luus (0) fell to clinical bowling by Tasmia Rubab and Fatima Sana.
However, Faye Tunnicliffe and the second ODI’s player of the match, Annerie Derckson, steadied the ship with a partnership of 85 before Tunnicliffe (47) edged the ball straight back to Nashra Sandhu.
Sinalo Jafta (33) then joined Derckson (54) for a 50-run partnership before they both fell caught-and-bowled, Jafta first to Sadia Iqbal and Derckson then to Umm-e-Hani.
Nadine de Klerk (8), Chloe Tryon (12), Nonkululeko Mlaba (4) and Tumi Sekhukhune (17) could not hang around to mount a chase.
“It was not the way we wanted to end the series,” Wolvaardt said.
“I think we were outplayed in all aspects of the game. They started really well with the bat and we weren’t on song with the ball, and it continued from there.
“Losing early wickets when chasing 300 is not ideal. So credit to them.”
Record hit-out by Pakistan captain
Earlier, Sadaf Shamas led the way with an attacking 97 off 82 balls at the top of the order for Pakistan.
Her 130-run partnership with number three batter Sidra Amin (41) laid a foundation before they were both picked off by Suné Luus in the 25th and 27th overs.
Fatima Sana came in at seven and scored a captain’s knock of 60 off 41 balls with three fours and five sixes to rally the innings, before being caught by Luus off Ayanda Hlubi in the 49th over.
Her five sixes were a record by Pakistan women in ODIs, breaking that of Sharmeen Khan’s three.
Luus was the pick of South Africa’s bowlers, finishing with 3/42 off nine overs, while Chloe Tryon also stemmed the runs with 1/42 off 10.