South Africa through to semis after rain and good bowling by West Indies

Akash Ghosh

24 Mar 2022 00:00 IST

New Update

South Africa through to semis after rain and good bowling by West Indies — South Africa vs West Indies © Getty Images

Heavy showers at the Basin Reserve in Wellington forced the league match between South Africa and West Indies to be called off as the two teams shared the two points allocated for the game, on March 24 (Thursday). Persistent rain in and around the Wellington area saw the toss being delayed by close to four and half hours.

Once the initial rains stopped and the outfield was approved by the umpires to be fit to play on, the match was reduced to an 26-over affair. West Indies won the toss and elected to field first. Opener Lizelle Lee, who has been dropping in and out of form and has not lived up to expectations in this tournament so far, started things off in a brisk fashion.

She hit Shamilia Connell for a boundary on the on-side off the last ball of the first over. However, the Proteas faced an early setback, when Laura Wolvaardt, who came into this game on the back of four consecutive fifties, was dismissed when trying to cut a delivery by Chinelle Henry. She failed to control it and keep it on the ground as Deandra Dottin took a wonderful one-handed catch to dismiss the opener for just three runs.

Lee continued her onslaught, taking on Connell once again, hitting her once again on the leg-side, this time towards mid-wicket. But Lee’s ultra-aggressive approach of moving on the crease, eventually saw her top-edging a delivery by Connell in the third over of the game. Henry came back to get rid of the Proteas skipper Sune Luus. The ball jumped on her as she failed to control the bounce, only managing to give an easy catch to the opposition skipper, Stafanie Taylor, standing at backward point.

South Africa further slipped into trouble as Tazmin Brits charged down the ground to a delivery from Henry and ended up producing a top edge, which was comfortably caught by Karishma Ramharack. At the end of six overs, South Africa were 25 for 4 and in some deep trouble.

Experienced pro, Mignon du Preez, who had hit Connell for a boundary before, got another boundary through square leg. Hoping to get a bit more from the overcast conditions on offer, skipper Taylor decided to bring in Deandra Dottin. However, she conceded nine runs in her first over, including a boundary, when du Preez cut her past backward point.

Marizanne Kapp, who came in at no. 6, got a boundary of Henry’s last ball of the 10th over, when she hung back inside the crease and cut one past point. Hayley Matthews was introduced into the attack in the 11th over and was immediately taken to all parts of the ground by du Preez.

The right-handed batter turned one delivery by Matthews into a full-toss hitting it through mid-on. She helped the next delivery behind the wicket with the outside edge going for a boundary. Matthews pitched the next ball up and was smashed for a boundary through covers. The South African batter got three runs on the next delivery, before rain returned to play spoilsport.

South Africa’s innings was halted at 61 for 4 in 10.5 overs. The teams couldn’t return to the field as the rain kept pouring down. Eventually, the match was abandoned and as a result of this, South Africa made it through to the semi-finals of the mega-event. The pick of the bowlers for West Indies was Henry, who ended with three wickets. For the Proteas, du Preez was unbeaten on 38.

Brief scores:

South Africa 61/4 in 10.5 overs (Mignon du Preez 38*, Chinelle Henry 3/19)

West Indies South Africa Cricket World Cup 2022 Mignon du Preez Chinelle Henry