((Photo ICC)
South Africa overcame a dogged Sri Lankan team and a lengthy rain delay to go second in the table at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025.
Chasing a revised total of 121 from 20 overs, Laura Wolvaardt (60 not out) and Tazmin Brits (55 not out) put on an unbeaten stand of 125 to seal a 10-wicket victory.
Earlier, Sri Lanka had made 105 for seven from their 20 overs, reaching 46 for two before a five-hour rain delay.
Upon the resumption, Vishmi Gunaratne top-scored, having retired hurt earlier in the innings, as she made 34.
Nonkululeko Mlaba was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa, taking three wickets including two in the final over to keep the Sri Lankan total down.
With this win, South Africa now have eight points from five matches and need just one more to clinch a place in the top four.
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first, following their impressive performance with the bat last time out against New Zealand in a match that was washed out.
They were dealt an early blow when Vishmi Gunaratne retired hurt for 12 in the fifth over after she was caught on the inside of the knee by an errant throw from the field.
South Africa took their first wicket in the eighth over, Hasini Perera seeing her off stump removed by Masabata Klaas as she departed for four.
Klaas (2/18) then secured the prize wicket of Chamari Athapaththu leg before for 11, leaving Sri Lanka in trouble at 37 for two.
From there, two more overs of play were possible before the rain came down at the end of the 12th over with Sri Lanka on 46 for two.
Following a rain break of more than five hours, the players returned for what was now a 20-over game, with Kavisha Dilhari marking the return with a six over backward square.
She fell at the end of the following over, picking out Laura Wolvaardt off the bowling of Nadine de Klerk for 14.
The South African skipper made it two catches in as many balls when she snagged Harshitha Samarawickrama off the bowling of Nonkululeko Mlaba for 13 with the first ball of the following over.
Gunaratne had returned, joined by in-form Nilakshika Silva with the pair adding 40 for the fifth wicket.
Mlaba finished with a flourish though, removing both set batters in the final over as Silva was caught by Anneke Bosch for 18 and Gunaratne fell caught behind for 34 off the final delivery.
In between those, Anushka Sanjeewani was run out by replacement fielder Bosch for one as Sri Lanka finished on 105 for seven.
Set a target of 121, South Africa flew out of the blocks with Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits racing to a fifty partnership in the eighth over.
Brits survived a run-out chance and an LBW appeal in successive overs before the pair picked up the pace with the captain reaching her half-century in the 13th over.
Her opening partner followed suit and sealed the win with a six, bringing up her fifty in the process.
South Africa will now remain in Sri Lanka ahead of their clash with Pakistan, while the Sri Lankans take on Bangladesh in Navi Mumbai in India.
South Africa skipper Wolvaardt admitted that there was plenty of relief after her team secured a 10-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in a game marked by a long rain delay.
She said: “I’m very relieved we got a game in the end. It was frustrating sitting out for four or five hours but happy with the two points. We just treated it as a normal T20 game and wanted to get ahead of the game as soon as we could and not leave it late.
“We went at it with the same intensity as a T20 game. That ball was a bar of soap when we were bowling but it came on nicely, so it was good when we were batting.
“Our normal death bowlers were bowled out already so we had to bowl some spin at the end but they did really well.
“In a World Cup it’s a bit different, lot of preparation as a captain. But when I’m out there, I’m just watching the ball and trying to hit it as well as I can.”
South Africa had been reliant on their middle and lower order in previous wins over India and Bangladesh, with their previous best opening stand in the tournament sitting at just 26.
But Wolvaardt and Brits were rarely troubled on this occasion and ensured that there would be no late drama as they cruised to the required total.
The captain added: “It’s something we’ve definitely been speaking about. We haven’t had the best tournament as an opening pair so it was great to put on a 100-run stand. I think we are still searching for that perfect game as a team.
“Sometimes the top order has fired, sometimes the middle order. We need to come together.
“We’ve been a bit loose with the ball in the death overs but we did that better today. It’s tough to stay switched on, you could see we weren’t as switched on when we just came back after the break but we were able to regroup.”
Sri Lanka’s defeat leaves them still without a win after four matches, with two of those having been abandoned due to rain.
Their cause was not helped here by the weather, with their spinners struggling in the wet conditions as they tried to break the opening partnership.
Skipper Chamari Athapaththu admitted: “The ball was too hard to grip, especially for the spinners. And we are dependent on spin so we struggled. These kind of things happened in the middle unfortunately.
“We have two more games and we want to play well and win those and finish as high as possible. We discussed that we had a good game in the last game so we decided to bat first and unfortunately the rain affected the game.
“As a team we’ll stick with our plans in the next game. As a team we have to play positive and fearless cricket. And we need to take the smart options as a batting unit.”
RESULTS
Sri Lanka 105/7 from 20 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 34, Nilakshika Silva 18; Nonkululeko Mlaba 3/30, Masabata Klaas 2/18)
South Africa 125/0 from 14.5 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 60 not out, Tazmin Brits 55 not out; Malki Madara 0/14, Sugandika Kumari 0/15)
Result: South Africa won by 10 wickets (DLS method).
