Sri Lanka bow out of Women’s Cricket World Cup

Vishmi Gunaratne returned from injury to top score for Sri Lanka

Masabata Klaas struck in successive overs for South Africa

Tazmin Brits and Laura Wolvaardt shared a century opening partnership to see South Africa home

• Suffer third defeat to South Africa

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka’s chances of making a rare semi-final appearance in an ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup suffered a severe setback when they were beaten by 10 wickets (DLS method) by South Africa in a rain-reduced 20-over game played at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Sri Lanka scored 105-7 off 20 overs, and South Africa powered their way to victory reaching a revised target of 121 through their openers Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits who put on 125 without loss with 31 balls to spare.  

The defeat was Sri Lanka’s third in five matches and left them still without a win against their name. The two points Sri Lanka gained was through two of their matches ending in a no-result due to rain.

Sri Lanka have two more matches against Bangladesh at Navi Mumbai on 20 October and against Pakistan at the R Premadasa Cricket Stadium on 24 October to complete their fixtures.

Winning the toss and batting first Sri Lanka progressed to 46-2 off 12 overs when the rains set in and play was held up for nearly five hours before it ceased allowing for a 20-overs-a-side match to be played.

Sri Lanka added 59 runs in the eight overs they had after the rain delay in greasy conditions, carrying their total to 105-7. Vishmi Gunaratne who was forced to retire hurt at 12 after being hit on the inner part of her left knee by a throw from the outfield came back to bat to finish as Sri Lanka's top scorer with 34 off 33 balls (6 fours). Sri Lanka batted with intent, and was able to add quick runs thanks to the ball and outfield being slippery. But Nadine de Klerk (1/23) and Nonkululeko Mlaba (3/30) were especially good with the ball, and ensured a tight finish for South Africa. 

While the South African fielders struggled to cope with the slippery ball, their openers Wolvaardt and Brits were happy to face it chasing the revised target. Skipper Wolvaardt was the aggressor from the beginning and ensured her team was always ahead of the rate scoring 60* off 47 balls (8 fours). She took the Player of the Match award. Brits played the second fiddle but she too showed her hitting prowess finishing on 55* off 42 balls (4 fours, 2 sixes). Both openers completed their respective fifties as the Proteas wrapped up the match in style with Brits making the winning hit a six.

South Africa jumps up to the second spot with this win and have one foot in the semi-finals. The forecast for this match was always dodgy but Sri Lanka opted to bat. They lost two wickets in the powerplay and were 46/2 at the end of the 12th over when the heavens opened up. There was no play for five hours but the rain relented just in time for a 20-over match to take place. The Lankans had to bat aggressively in their remaining eight overs and they added 59 runs to finish on 105/7 with 31 balls to spare.

With yesterday’s win South Africa jumps to second spot with 8 points from four wins and have one foot in the semi-finals. Australia heads the table with 9 points from four wins, leaving England (7), India (4) and New Zealand (3) to fight it out for the third and fourth places. The top four teams in the standings qualify for the semi-finals.