West Indies Women 160 (Dottin 37, Khaka 5-26) tied with South Africa Women 160 (Luus 46, Matthews 2-21)
West Indies Women won the one-over eliminator
Deandra Dottin's career-best 150* on Friday could not beat the rain but her 19 off five balls in the Super Over sealed a rain-affect second ODI against South Africa. The main event was reduced to 41 overs a side and both teams were bowled out for 160 before Dottin and Hayley Matthews starred in a record Super Over of 25 without loss against Shabnim Ismail. South Africa's Chloe Tryon and Tazmin Brits got off to a good start with 15 runs off the first four balls off Matthews, but managed only two off the last two to concede the match.
Dottin was at her destructive best in the match proper, where she top-scored with 37, and especially in the Super Over. She swiped a full toss to mid-wicket for two to start off, then moved across her stumps to ramp Ismail for four, and then got down on one knee to drive her over long-on for six. She took three off the last ball she faced leaving Matthews one ball that she sent over the leg side for another six.
When Deandra decides to bat, it's quite difficult to have a plan," South Africa's captain Suné Luus conceded. "You can try and contain her on one side but she is a batter with a lot of experience and power."
And South Africa were unable to match that skill. With Lizelle Lee out of the series as she recovers from Covid-19, South Africa chose to use Tazmin Brits and Chloe Tryon, who started the reply with a six over mid-wicket. She scrambled through for one on the ball after before Brits hit Matthews for successive fours. South Africa needed 10 runs off the last two deliveries and scored two off the penultimate ball, which put victory out of reach.
South Africa and West Indies were involved in the last tied match, with West Indies' winning the Super Over while South Africa have been involved in the last five tied ODIs and stand-in captain Luus joked that she hoped they could come out on the right side of tense affairs fairly soon. But for that, their tactics in crunch moments needed examination. In this case, South Africa preferred Ismail in the Super Over over Ayabonga Khaka, who took a career-best 5 for 26 in eight overs, and Luus was left to explain why. "We felt Shabnim with her experience and she bowled the over before so she was confident she could keep West Indies to a low total," she said.
Ismail bowled what became the last over of the match and dismissed Shakera Selman lbw with scores level, to snatch a tie from the jaws of defeat after West Indies had clawed their way back into the chase. They were 83 for 6 in the 21st over, with danger-woman Dottin dismissed for 37, and South Africa's slower bowlers enjoying success on what Luus called a "sticky" pitch. Chedean Nation and Chinelle Henry came together for the seventh-wicket with the intention to take their team over the line. "We had a discussion that it had to be between me and Chedean. It was about applying ourselves and keep it ticking," Henry said. "We understand each other and we bat well together. We knew we had to take the responsibility to take the team to the end."
Henry became Khaka's fourth victim to end their partnership on 54 and Shamilia Connell was out lbw off the next ball to leave West Indies needing 24 runs with two wickets in hand. Nation and Selman then shared 21-runs for the ninth wicket before Nation was caught off Masabata Klaas and West Indies were three runs short of victory. Ismail denied them that but could not stop them from winning the Super Over.
Ultimately, South Africa may rue the way they batted, with collapses at the top and bottom of the innings. They started slowly but solidly and reached 53 without loss in the 17th over but then lost three wickets for five runs in 13 deliveries and the middle-order was required to rebuild. Luus shared a 33-run fourth-wicket stand with Mignon du Preez and a 29-run fifth-wicket stand with Tryon. She top-scored with 46 before South Africa's lower order fell away. They lost five wickets for 18 runs in 30 balls. The five bowlers West Indies used took two wickets each, with Shamilia Connell and Hayley Matthews conceding at under three runs an over.
The third match in the series will be played on Thursday, at the same venue, where according to Luus, the persistent summer rain is helping to replicate conditions the teams can expect at the Women's World Cup in New Zealand.
