South Africa Secure Crucial Win Over Bangladesh to Boost Semi-Final Chances in Women’s T20 World Cup 2024
South Africa defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets in the last group stage match of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in Dubai.
With this victory, South Africa secured six points and a net run rate (NRR) of 1.382 to conclude the league stage, greatly increasing their prospects of qualifying for the semi-finals. Bangladesh, meanwhile, was eliminated from the competition after finishing their campaign with just one victory.
Key Performances and Match Results
South Africa 107 for 3 (Brits 42, Bosch 25, Fahima 2-19) beat Bangladesh 106 for 3 (Mostary 38, Nigar 32*, Kapp 1-10, Mlaba 1-11) by 7 wickets.
Match Analysis
South Africa finished the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 league stage with six points and a net run rate of 1.382 after defeating Bangladesh in Dubai. It was the last league game for both teams, and Bangladesh only managed a single victory, eliminating them from the competition.
Throughout, both teams used caution when batting. In a T20 World Cup match, Bangladesh’s score of 106 for 3 in 20 overs was the lowest by a team batting their whole quota for a loss of three or fewer wickets. During a significant portion of the chase, South Africa failed to score more than one run per ball and ultimately won with just 16 balls remaining; only Tazmin Brits (42 off 41) and Chloe Tryon (14 off 13) achieved a strike rate greater than 100.
Despite losing the toss, Captain Laura Wolvaardt was content to bat second in order to “control NRR while chasing”. However, South Africa’s net run rate dropped from 1.527 to 1.382 by the conclusion of the evening, and they will now have to watch anxiously while England and the West Indies finish their league matches over the coming days.
Once Bangladesh decided to bat, their batting strategy was impeccably sound. Despite losing Dilara Akter in the opening over and giving the wicketkeeper a small edge, they did not panic. To begin with, South Africa surprised a lot of people by continuing to use their fast bowlers during the powerplay; spin wasn’t used until the eighth over.
Shathi Rani made a lot of effort, but in vain, to remove the shackles. In the first six overs, she strolled down the track, skipped down, and moved around in the crease, but she was unable to locate a boundary.
She played out eighteen dots while facing 23 balls. However, she attempted to attack 11 of those balls. Rani attempted to attack half of the balls she encountered, but her strike rate was only 63.33 with only one four and one six. Throughout the entire battle, only Tazmin Brits attacked 16 balls compared to Rani’s 15.
Bangladesh were reduced to 36 for 2 in the eighth over when Rani holed out two balls after striking her six, a smash over wide long-on. They ran the risk of losing by less than a point for the second time in three games. Even though they didn’t pose a serious threat to South Africa with a massive score, Sobhana Mostary and Nigar Sultana added 45 for the third wicket in 56 balls to enable Bangladesh push forward. Both boundaries and strike rotation were difficult to come by. However, they persisted and—more significantly—confused South Africa by refusing to give up.
After much effort on the part of the bowlers, Nonkululeko Mlaba was the one who eventually obtained enough grip from the pitch to overcome a Mostary’s heave and bowl her. With her ninth wicket of the match, she tied Marizanne Kapp’s record for the most wickets for South Africa in a single T20 World Cup.
Bangladesh scored 23 runs in the final two overs thanks to a four from Nigar and some excellent between-the-wicket running from Shorna Akter. In the final two overs of the innings, the duo struck six doubles to help Bangladesh reach 100.
South Africa were 17 for 0 in the first two overs as the British got off to a quick start, smashing three fours in those two overs. Using her feet to try to throw legspinner Fahima Khatun off, Wolvaardt was able to flick one to the right of mid-on and beat deep midwicket to her left to begin her boundary count. But the next ball, Fahima had her retribution by lobbing one high and tricking Wolvaardt into thinking she was in flight to retrieve her stump.
In the fourth over, Nahida Akter was able to draw a few of false shots, including a leading edge off the British, while Fahima twice defeated Anneke Bosch with a slider. Bangladesh nearly prevailed as a result of the strain, but the British and Bosch were unable to break away.
However, when the British bowled one straight at Fahima and parried it away for four, she was unable to hold onto a straightforward offering at deep midwicket. At that point, Brits was on a run-a-ball 21. After the following three overs went for 21, Bosch was dismissed by Fahima, who returned.
By then, South Africa was in charge and the British had gained entry. So much so that the South African camp did not get nervous even after she was dismissed in the fourteenth over. Even in the absence of considerable swag, Kapp and Tryon completed the job by adding the final touches. South Africa has the advantage, but their NRR will put them in danger—exactly the situation they were hoping to avoid at the start of the match.
