South Africa moved into the Super Six stage of the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017 with a six-wicket victory over Bangladesh at P. Sara Oval, Colombo. Sri Lanka and Ireland also moved closer to a Super Six spot with victories over Zimbabwe and Thailand respectively on Saturday.
Bangladesh was bowled out for 100, thanks in large part to pacer Shabnim Ismail and spinner Sune Luus, who took three wickets each. It was reduced to eight for three in the fifth over with the openers having departed without scoring. No. 3 Rumana Ahmed provided some resistance with a knock of 39, but she got little support from any of her batting partners.
South Africa got to its target in 25.2 overs, with Lizelle Lee scoring 34, and Laura Wolvaardt scoring 30.
“It was a good toss to lose because we got a lot of help from the pitch early on. The ball was seaming a lot in my first three overs but during my second spell there was no help, so I used a lot of variations with my slower balls. The momentum is with our team and we want to keep going like this and through to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017,” Ismail said after the match.
In the other match from Group B, Scotland defeated Papua New Guinea (PNG) by seven runs at the Mercantile Cricket Association Ground in Colombo. Having been asked to bat, Scotland stumbled its way to 169, getting bowled out off the final ball of its quota of 50 overs. Middle-order batter Rachel Scholes top scored with 35; PNG medium-pacer Pauke Siaka took six for 19 in her seven overs.
In reply, PNG made a promising start with a 72-run opening partnership between Brenda Tau and Tanya Ruma. It also got bowled out off the final ball of its quota of overs; needing 20 runs off the final over, it collected 12 runs – eight runs off byes and a scored boundary – and lost two wickets to seamer Priyanaz Chatterji.
Ranaweera stars for SL
In Group A, Sri Lanka defeated Zimbabwe by eight wickets at Nondescripts Cricket Club ground, its second win in three matches. Zimbabwe was bowled out for 149 in its 50 overs, with Inoka Ranaweera taking four wickets. Sri Lanka reached its target In 36.5 overs, led by a half-century from Chamari Athapaththu and an unbeaten 33 from Prasadani Weerakkody.
Ranaweera said, “This was an important win, and I’m glad the entire team delivered. Chamari coming to form was important for us, hope she gets better from here. She is one of the top players of the world. We hope to continue doing well in the next game against Thailand. As for me, I focussed on sticking to the right line and length [on Saturday].”
In the other match from the group, Ireland defeated Thailand by 46 runs. Kim Garth scored 98 and Laura Delany scored 50 to enable Ireland to a total of 218 for seven in its 50 overs. Thailand’s chase was led by a knock of 44 from Nattaya Boochatham and 42 from Sornnarin Tippoch, as it reached 172 for nine in its quota of overs. For Ireland, Lucy O’Reilly was the most successful bowler, with three for 28.
With India already having qualified from Group A, equations could come into the picture if Zimbabwe beats India and Sri Lanka loses to Thailand, in which case, three teams will be tied on four points each.
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