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Top four shine as Proteas Women level series

cricket20 December 2023 19:28| ยฉ MWP
By:Ross Roche
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The Proteas Women top four dominated the Bangladeshi bowling attack to power their side to a comfortable eight-wicket series- levelling win in the second ODI at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom on Wednesday night.

In pursuit of 223 to win the top three all scored half centuries, with Anneke Bosch top scoring with a career best 65 not out off 63 balls (7x4), while openers Laura Wolvaardt, 54 off 67 balls (3x4) and Tasmin Brits, 50 off 84 balls (2x4; 1x6), and Sune Luus, 47 not out off 57 (1x4) all got stuck in.

It was a 106-run opening stand off 150 balls, followed by a superb unbeaten 117-run third-wicket partnership off 120 balls that saw the home side cruise over the line at the start of the 46th over.

โ€œWhat a difference a few days makes. I thought we were much better in all departments today,โ€ said a delighted captain Wolvaardt at the post-match presentation.

โ€œThe bowlers started off really well. It was a slower wicket than what we expected and there wasnโ€™t as much in it for the seamers, so I thought they did really well to keep the stumps in play and restrict them to 220 odd. Then obviously just having the two hundred run partnerships was awesome.โ€

The teams now head to Benoni where they will battle out the decider on Saturday afternoon, after Bangladesh won the opener in East London over the past weekend.

โ€œThere is a lot to play for in the next game to hopefully win the series. We have started doing the right things and we will reflect on the things that we did well today and hopefully we can keep doing that in the last game,โ€ said Wolvaardt.

The Proteas' innings got off to a solid start as Wolvaardt and Brits scored 39 in the powerplay and brought up the team's 50 in the 12th over.

Both batters continued on their merry way, with Wolvaardt bringing up her half century in the 22nd over, followed by Brits bringing up the team's hundred with a boundary and then her half century in the 25th over.

However, having set the stage both batters fell in successive deliveries as Brits was caught by Marufa Akter off the bowling of Ritu Moni at the end of that action-packed 25th over.

Wolvaardt had to follow suit when she was bowled by Fahima Khatun off the first ball of the 26th over.

This brought Bosch and Luus in and they started slowly as they initially had to regroup after the quick wickets, before they picked up the rate and powered home in style with 29 balls to spare, as both batters found the boundary with ease at the end of their innings.

A DAY OF RECORDSย 

In the first innings it was a day for records as opening batter Fargana Pinky set a couple of Bangladeshi records in helping her side post 222/4 batting first.

Pinky was the rock of the Bangladeshi innings, almost carrying her bat as she scored 102 off 167 balls, having struck 11 fours, before she was run out in the final over of their innings.

She also rewrote her countryโ€™s record book along the way as became the first Bangladeshi player to score two ODI hundreds and the first Bangladeshi player to score a century against the Proteas.

However, she was not the only one to celebrate a milestone as returning Proteas legend Marizanne Kapp, who missed the opening ODI due to illness, joined a couple of international legends in the allrounder records, with her by far the Proteas best bowler, picking up figures of 2-21 in nine overs.

That included her 150th and 151st ODI wickets, which saw her become just the third womenโ€™s cricketer in history to pick up 150 wickets and score over 2 500 runs in ODIs, joining West Indies Stafanie Taylor and Australiaโ€™s Elize Perry.

At the start of play the Proteas won the toss and put Bangladesh in to bat.

The visitors got their innings off to a slow start, but crucially they didnโ€™t lose any early wickets as they reached 38/0 by the end of the 10 over powerplay.

Masabata Klaas finally broke the deadlock in the 13th over as she had Shamima Sultana (28) caught by Sune Luus with the score on 48/1, while Kapp then reduced Bangladesh to 63/2 as Murshida Khatun (8) fended at a ball that swung away a touch and edged to the keeper.

Pinky, on 22, received a reprieve when the Proteas thought she had been caught at gully, with the third umpire not finding enough evidence that the catch was clean to give her out, which allowed her to bat on and help her side past the hundred run mark in the 25th over and bring up her own half century in the 27th.

Kapp then returned to break the 58-run third-wicket stand as Nigar Sultana (13) who was largely a spectator in it, edged her to keeper Sinalo Jafta, with the score 121/3 in the 32nd over.

Although Bangladesh had kept the wickets to a minimum they were short on runs and an important partnership between Pinky and new batter Fahima Khatun, 46no off 48 balls (3x4), then saw them share in a 93-run stand to help get them to a decent total.

PROTEAS: Tazmin Brits, Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Anneke Bosch, Sune Luus, Marizanne Kapp, Nadine de Klerk, Eliz-Mari Marx, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Sinalo Jafta (wkt), Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas

BANGLADESH: Nigar Sultana (capt/wkt), Nahida Akter, Fargana Pinky, Sobhana Mostary, Murshida Khatun, Ritu Moni, Shorna Akter, Rabeya, Fahima Khatun, Lata Mandol, Marufa Akter

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