South Africa storm back into contention as hapless NZ face meek elimination
Mlaba and Tryon star with ball and bat to keep hosts on track for semi-final spot
Mlaba and Tryon star with ball and bat to keep hosts on track for semi-final spot
Scorer: Binoy George | Commentator: @PeterDellaPenna
9.54 pm So New Zealand crash to their lowest total in Women's T20 World Cups (eclipsing what happened over the weekend against Australia, so the mark only lasted for two days), and it's their second lowest total against any opponent in Women's T20Is. If you're a New Zealand fan and thought the only way to go was up after the lopsided defeat to Australia, you thought wrong.
On the other side, South Africa's hopes of a semi-final berth are back in with a chance following tonight's win. Player of the Match is Chloe Tryon for her all-round show by top-scoring with 40 off the bat and then following it with 2 for 12 using her left-arm spin. "After the first game, we knew what needed to come. It was do or die. But we just needed to go back to the basics. I just think we really wanted it really badly. We wanted it as a group and you could see the smiles on our faces. With the bat, I thought we were 15 or 20 runs short but we had a job with the ball and I think everyone did superbly with the ball. It's nice to challenge myself and I'm just happy I got some key wickets today."
South Africa's net run rate is now +1.55 with a record of 1-1. Sri Lanka is 2-0 but has a net run rate of +0.43. New Zealand meanwhile have a net run rate of -4.05 after two losses.
New Zealand captain Sophie Devine: "Firstly credit has to go to South Africa. They completely outplayed us today and were deserved winners so congrats to them. To be honest, it's embarrassing. I can't really say much else apart from that. We've trained well and put in all the work behind the scenes and then to come out and perform like that two nights in a row is simply not good enough for international cricket. I thought it was a competitive score but we always have the belief that we can chase down any score. I thought the wicket was slightly better than it was last game. So for us, again it was just disappointing. We're gonna have to have some serious looks in the mirror and some pretty harsh discussions. We've got to let our emotions out. We've got a couple of days before our next game and we've got to let it out. We can't hold onto it and then we have to move on. Tomorrow will be a really important day for us. I think we need to step away from the cricket field and the training field and have some time away because tonight's performance and the other night was not good enough. It's harsh and sport is bloody hard. But we have to bounce back. We have to find some positives in this and the young guns have been brilliant. There's some really good young players coming through."
South Africa captain Sune Luus: "First of all, thank you Paarl for coming out tonight. This was one of the biggest crowds we've ever had and it just made it more special. After our last game, we said we wanted to keep that intent, keep scoring runs and keep that run rate ticking, build partnerships and get to a competitive total. The spinners did a brilliant job tonight but also the likes of Aya, Kappie and Shabbie just to support them as well, and to finish the job off, I think it was a brilliant bowling performance from the whole team. [Four dismissals by Jafta] She did a brilliant job tonight. I think it's so important for the keeper to keep the energies up. It's good to see her in form and hopefully she can just continue that. [On Chloe Tryon] What a legend. She missed out unfortunately Friday evening but to come back tonight and show the class that she's made of, it was absolutely brilliant."
That's it for tonight's coverage. Come back tomorrow night for the Valentine's Day showdown between Australia and Bangladesh in the first match of this World Cup staged in Gqeberha. Until then, I'm Peter Della Penna. Take care!
FC Jonas b Kapp 1 (6m 5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 20.00
Kapp back now as well.
Hosts make up for failings against Sri Lanka to give home support a night to remember
NZ captain says domestic standards aren't high enough after back-to-back drubbings
Mlaba and Tryon star with ball and bat to keep hosts on track for semi-final spot