South Africa women 129 for 2 (Kapp 56*, Lee 56) beat Pakistan women 128 for 5 (Maroof 63*, Ismail 1-17) by eight wickets
Lizelle Lee and Marizanne Kapp both scored fifties as South Africa chased down Pakistan's 128 for 5 with one ball to spare in the second Twenty20 International in Pietermaritzburg. Together they added 96 runs for the second wicket to chase down a total that had been built around Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof's 63 not out. Although Lee fell moments before the match was won, Kapp remained unbeaten after registering her maiden T20I half century, hitting the winning runs.
South Africa were well ahead of the asking rate when Kapp joined Lee in the middle in the fifth over, but tight spells from Pakistan's attack meant that no boundaries were scored between the fifth and 12th overs. A steadily climbing required rate touched 8.55 before the pair opened up once more and broke the shackles with a flurry of boundaries.
Lee was first to her fifty, reaching the mark off the 45th ball she faced in the 17th over. South Africa needed just 12 off the final two overs, but Sana Mir ended her spell with a tight, five-run over to leave Nida Dar with seven to defend. Kapp swatted Dar's first ball for four to raise her fifty, and a single off the next ball put Lee back on strike.
With two runs still needed and three balls remaining, Lee slogged a full toss out to Iram Javed at deep backward square, but the batting pair crossed while the ball was in the air, leaving Kapp on strike. A fierce straight drive ricocheted off non-striker Chloe Tryon, the ball bouncing into the gap beyond mid off, and a sprinted two brought victory for the hosts.
Kapp's match-winning knock meant that Maroof's 63 - her second consecutive fifty-plus score - went in vain. She had entered the fray in the seventh over of Pakistan's innings, after Umaima Sohail and Javeria Rauf had added a steady 36 in their opening stand.
Maroof was soon into her groove, ticking into the 30s at better than a run a ball, but her partners at the other end struggled to give her consistent support, with Sohail's 23 the next best score. Shabnim Ismail gave away a miserly seven runs in her first three overs, which included a maiden, but elsewhere Maroof found opportunities to score, taking two boundaries off Kapp's third over and following that up with back-to-back fours off Masabata Klaas.
A single off Kapp brought up a 39-ball fifty for Maroof in the 19th over, and she ruined Ismail's figures a little with two more boundaries to end the innings, but Pakistan's total was not quite enough to overcome the hosts. After South Africa's series-levelling win, the teams will meet again at the same venue on Sunday.
