South Africa suffered an agonizing three-run defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka as the ICC Women\u2019s T20 World Cup South Africa 2023 kicked off with a bang at a sold-out Newlands Cricket Ground on Friday.<\/p>\n
Sri Lanka successfully defended their first innings total of 129 \/ 4 thanks to an all-round bowling effort led by Inoka Banaweera (3 \/ 18) after inspirational captain, Chamari Athapaththu smashed a 50-ball 68 that consisted of an impressive 12 boundaries.<\/p>\n
After losing the toss and being asked to bat, the sub-continent outfit navigated a tricky opening spell at the crease with a steady partnership between Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama (8) before the former combined brilliantly with Vishmi Gunaratne (35) to set up a second wicket stand worth 86 runs.<\/p>\n
The game-changing combination was finally broken in the 18th over after Tazmin Brits brilliantly ran out Gunaratne prior to Marizanne Kapp (1 \/ 15) getting the all-important wicket of the dangerous Athapaththu the very next ball.<\/p>\n
The Sri Lankans eventually finished on 129 \/ 4 after their allotted overs with Proteas bowler, Shabnim Ismail (1 \/ 22) taking the final wicket to fall in the 20th over. Nadine de Klerk (1 \/ 38) was the other South African wicket-taker after the all-rounder made the initial breakthrough in the innings.<\/p>\n
With the bat, the Proteas Women struggled to find consistent rhythm in their chase as a fall of regular wickets and a stifling bowling attack led by the Sri Lankan spinners restricted South Africa\u2019s scoring opportunities.<\/p>\n
Despite the best efforts of Sun\u00e9 Luus (28), Laura Wolvaardt (18) and Sinalo Jafta (15), the Proteas were unsuccessful in their attempts to keep up with the required run-rate as Sri Lanka wrapped up the result, limiting South Africa to 126 \/ 9, to seal a memorable win over the host nation.<\/p>\n
Athapaththu was named the Player of the Match following her match-winning performance, while South Africa turn their attention to their second Group A clash against New Zealand taking place at Boland Park in Paarl on Monday, 13 February at 19h00 (SAST).<\/p>\n
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Image: Supplied by CSA<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"