Sune Luus’s five-wicket haul guided South Africa to its first victory in the Women’s World T20 as the side defeated Ireland by 67 runs at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here today.
Ireland looked in deep trouble after the side lost its top two batters inside the first six overs. However, Clare Shillington and Ireland skipper Isobel Joyce put on 44 runs for the third wicket, before Sune broke the all-important partnership.
Brought in to bowl in the 12th over, Sune picked up her first wicket as she got Isobel bowled. She ended with figures of 4-0-8-5, removing Laura Delany, Robyn Lewis, Kim Garth and Lucy O’Reily in the process.
South Africa also displayed some amazing fielding, as Moseline Daniels and Chloe Tyron produced two fine run outs.
Earlier, South Africa won the toss and elected to bat. The first over saw South African batters smash three fours and putting 13 runs on board, giving a clear indication of a big total.
Openers Dane van Niekerk and Trisha Chetty were going strong, having put up a partnership of 41 from 4.5 overs. Dane was the first to be dismissed as she was given leg before wicket, a decision with which she was not at all happy. She was seen asking the umpire continuously as she walked off towards the pavilion and later on, throwing her gloves on the ground as she reached the dugout.
For a brief period South Africa could not form a commendable partnership. However, some powerful hitting by the middle-order batters saw South Africa push its total beyond 150. Lizelle Lee (30 not out 3x4, 1x6), and Dinesha Davnarain’s (24, 4x4) 29-ball 42 runs and Lizelle and Chloe Tyron’s (20 not out, 2x4, 1x6) partnership of 30 off nine balls helped the African side post a challenging total.
The Ireland bowlers gave away seven extras in total and apart from the amazing one-handed catch at short midwicket by Isobel, the European side flattered to deceive.
Isobel, the stand-out performer for Ireland, said after the match: "We gave away runs. Probably those fours in the middle cost us the match. Also, my wicket was the turning point in the match"
South Africa's Mignon was happy with the team's performance: "Openers gave us the platform to work on. We are definitely happy with the way the batters played today. The girls really did well to put the bad balls away and it something we haven't done in the past few games."
Sune Luus, the player fo the match, said: "The wicket is good for leg-spinners. The ball skidded and that didn't help the batters."
South Africa still has two matches left in the tournament, with their next tie against New Zealand in Bangalore. Whereas, Ireland is out of the tournament but has a final game left against Australia in Delhi.
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