Birmingham, June 18 (IANS) South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt admitted her side did not produce their cleanest performance but was satisfied to begin their campaign with a victory after edging Pakistan by two wickets in a low-scoring contest of the Women’s T20 World Cup at Edgbaston.
Chasing 127, South Africa survived a dramatic late wobble despite being in a commanding position, eventually sealing the win after Pakistan captain Fatima Sana’s all-round brilliance threatened to script an unlikely comeback. While Wolvaardt praised her bowlers for setting up the game and lauded Annerie Dercksen’s attacking half-century, she also acknowledged areas for improvement ahead of South Africa’s next fixture against India.
“Points in the bag are all that matters today. It was a little scratchy and not the way we would have liked, but there are still lots of positives to take out of it. We’ll take those and move on,” Wolvaardt said after the game.
South Africa’s victory was built on an explosive start with the ball, led by Marizanne Kapp, who dismissed Muneeba Ali with the first ball of the match before reducing Pakistan to 29/5 inside the powerplay. Shabnim Ismail’s new-ball spell complemented Kapp’s efforts as Pakistan’s top order crumbled.
“It was a lovely way to start the game. Setting the tone with a wicket on the first ball was important. I think Kappie was excellent, and I thought Shabnim was great today as well. It was nice to have them bowling in tandem up front and setting up the innings like that,” she added.
Despite Pakistan slumping further to 50/8, Fatima Sana refused to surrender. Her unbeaten 55 from 38 balls, alongside Tuba Hassan, lifted Pakistan to 126/9 through a remarkable 71-run ninth-wicket partnership. Wolvaardt revealed South Africa’s strategy was centred on limiting Sana’s influence once the collapse had unfolded
“We knew Fatima was still there, so we tried our best to keep her off strike for as long as we could and bowl as much as possible to the other batters. I think we did well to keep her as quiet as we did. She’s played innings against us before where she’s hurt us a lot more than she did today. We probably could have executed a little better at the death, but she batted really well. At the end of the day, we were happy chasing 120,” Wolvaardt stated.
South Africa appeared to be cruising in the chase after Annerie Dercksen launched a blistering counterattack, racing to a 32-ball half-century and putting the required run rate firmly under control. However, Pakistan clawed their way back with regular wickets before Nadine de Klerk guided the visitors home in a tense finish.
Wolvaardt singled out Dercksen’s fearless approach as the defining feature of South Africa’s chase, particularly on a sluggish surface where cautious batting could easily have allowed Pakistan back into the contest.
“The power she has is incredible. She’s able to hit even really slow bowlers for big sixes, so it’s awesome to have that in our lineup. The intent she came out with was exactly what this chase needed. It’s easy to go into your shell when you’re only chasing 120 and the wicket is slow and turning. I thought she played excellently and took a lot of pressure off the rest of the batting lineup,” she noted.
With India next on South Africa’s schedule, Wolvaardt expects another stern examination against quality spin bowling. She believes the experiences from the chase against Pakistan, particularly the composed innings from Dercksen and Nadine de Klerk, will provide valuable lessons moving forward.
“It was quite slow today and we faced a lot of spin. I imagine Manchester will be pretty similar, and India have some quality spinners as well. It’s probably back to the drawing board to see how we can play those situations better. We can take some learnings from Annerie’s innings and Nadine’s innings. They played it really well, and we’ll take it from there,” she concluded.
–IANS
vi/bc