Nadine de Klerk clattered two boundaries to complete a thrilling chase by South Africa and beat Bangladesh in the final over at the Women’s Cricket World Cup on Monday.
Needing eight runs off the last six balls, de Klerk smacked a four and a six to finish the chase with three deliveries remaining. She scored 37 not out off 29 balls, taking South Africa to 7-235 and victory by three wickets.
Bangladesh made a competitive 6-232 after opting to bat first.
The Proteas were a precarious 5-78 in reply before Chloe Tryon scored 62 off 69 balls and Marizanne Kapp 56 off 71 in a momentum-changing sixth-wicket partnership of 85 off 109.
Tryon was named the player of the match.
“I wanted to take the game as deep as possible, knowing Nadine was there at the back end to do what she does best,” Tryon said. “We stayed calm and waited for the bad balls. I am happy that we got over the line.”
It was a third successive win for South Africa in four games, and they leapfrogged co-hosts India to go to third in the table, a point behind table-topping Australia.
The Proteas travel to Colombo next to play Sri Lanka on Friday. Bangladesh, who remain sixth, face Australia on Thursday, at the same venue.
Bangladesh started slowly and openers Fargana Hoque (30) and Rubya Haider (25) used up 128 deliveries.
Sharmin Akhter scored 50 off 77 before she was run out. She put on 77 runs with Nigar Sultana (32) for the third wicket.
Bangladesh were 4-164 in the 43rd over but Shorna Akter’s blitz seized the momentum. She hit three sixes and three fours to score 50 off 34 balls as Bangladesh passed 200 and put up a par score on a slow surface. Left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba took 2-42.
Bangladesh’s own left-arm spinner, Nahida Akter, hit South Africa’s top order hard — in-form Tazmin Brits was dismissed for a duck and wrist spinner Rabeya Khan bowled Annerie Dercksen for 2.
Skipper Laura Wolvaardt was stranded mid-pitch as she was run out for 31 off 56 balls. Anneke Bosch added 28 but South Africa slipped to 5-78 when Sinalo Jafta was bowled for four.
Tryon and Kapp absorbed the pressure and then upped the ante. Both batters scored their first half-centuries of the World Cup.
Kapp was caught at long-off in the 41st over. Tryon and de Klerk quickly added 35 off 27 balls to maintain the chase before Tryon was run out in the 45th, still 35 runs from victory.
De Klerk was dropped in the penultimate over when Shorna Akter spilled the catch at long-off.
It was an expensive miss. De Klerk finished off the match four balls later as she hit the winning runs for the second game in a row.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/cricket/south-africa-squeeze-past-bangladesh-in-thriller-c-20340217
