West Indies women 102 for 1 (McLean 42*, Taylor 35*) beat South Africa women 101 for 8 (Van Niekerk 36, du Preez 27, Mohammed 5-24) by 9 wickets
Late strikes including a last-over hat-trick from Anisa Mohammed and a 72-run second-wicket stand between Natasha McLean and captain Stafanie Taylor ensured West Indies women continued their dominant run over their South African counterparts with a nine-wicket win at Tarouba. They now lead the five-match T20I series 2-0, following a closer 17-run victory in the first match. After restricting South Africa to 101 for 8, the hosts romped home with 27 balls to spare.
Having elected to bowl, Taylor's decision was rewarded early by offspinner Hayley Matthews, who dislodged both Lizelle Lee and Sune Luus for ducks. West Indies maintained their stranglehold, even as captain Dane van Niekerk and Chloe Tryon added 28 for the third wicket, with the run rate only marginally above three per over. Tryon was soon removed by Taylor for 21 to leave South Africa in further trouble at 32 for 3 in the 10th over.
Van Niekerk, who batted deep into the innings for her painstaking 36 off 48 balls, was then involved in their most lucrative stand of 50 with Mignon du Preez (27) before becoming Mohammed's first victim. Mohammed got the rest of her wickets, including the ninth hat-trick in women's T20Is, in the final over of the innings that saw the fall of four wickets. She accounted for van Niekerk on the second ball of the over before removing Marizanne Kapp, Saarah Smith and Masabata Klaas on the last three deliveries of the innings to finish with 5 for 24, her third five-for in T20Is and second against South Africa.
"It was really frustrating today," van Niekerk said after the match. "Initially they bowled really well. The wicket was tacky and slow and not easy to get away. In these conditions you've to sum it up as quick as possible and find ways to score, [but] I don't think we did that. It's not a wicket where you come in and you swing from the hip. They bowl really well in their conditions, they set their fields well, we know how athletic they are. As a batting unit we need to earn the right to score on these wickets."
Needing just over five runs an over, West Indies began sedately with an opening stand of 30, before Matthews was caught off Luus for a 21-ball 17. There were no further hiccups, as McLean and Taylor picked up the run rate and shrugged off the remaining runs by the 16th over with an unbroken stand.
