South Africa, New Zealand win big in Women’s T20 World Cup

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DUBAI – Captains Laura Wolvaardt and Sophie Devine hit unbeaten half-centuries to lead their teams South Africa and New Zealand to thumping wins in the Women’s T20 World Cup on Friday.
South Africa hammered the West Indies by 10 wickets with Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits chasing down their victory target of 119 with 13 balls to spare.
Left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba returned figures of 4-29 to restrict West Indies to 118-6 in Dubai.
Later at the same venue, New Zealand’s Devine steered her team to 160-4 after she elected to bat first.
Medium-pace bowlers Rosemary Mair and Lea Tahuhu shared seven wickets between to bowl out India for 102 in 19 overs — victory by 58 runs — to end New Zealand’s 10-match losing streak.
“People have been speaking about our recent results, coming out against a world-class side like India, to produce that performance I’m overwhelmed,” said player of the match Devine.
“We’ve been targeting this game for a long time. To come out and lay a marker (is great), but we’ve got a long way to go in the tournament.”
New Zealand started strongly with a brisk opening stand of 67 between Suzie Bates, who made 27, and Georgia Plimmer, who hit 34. 
Controversy erupted when skipper Harmanpreet Kaur ran out Amelia Kerr with a throw from the deep to the wicketkeeper, who whipped the bails off, but the umpire called the batter back due to the ball being ‘dead’.
Kaur remained unhappy and had a long discussion with the umpires before grudgingly getting back to the game but the break seemed to have affected Kerr, who was caught out two balls later in the next over.
Devine stood firm and took the attack to the opposition with regular boundaries and reached her fifty with a four as New Zealand finished with 37 runs off the last three overs.
India were never in the chase after they lost openers Shafali Verma, for two, and Smriti Mandhana, for 12, inside the first five overs — both batters falling to Eden Carson’s off-spin.
Mair sent back Kaur trapped lbw for 15 to further dent the chase and finally finished off the match with two successive strikes to return figures of 4-19.
 
– ‘Not that easy’ –
 
In the first match of the day, Wolvaardt, who hit 59, was tested early in her knock by the West Indies bowlers but once she found her rhythm, the right-handed opener reached her 50 in 45 balls.
“Not that easy,” Wolvaardt said of her performance in the extreme heat of Dubai. “One of the harder knocks I have had physically, especially after fielding first.”
Brits, who made 57, also raised her half-ton in 45 balls and ended her knock with six boundaries.
Wolvaardt survived reprieves on five and 33 — on both occasions a return catch dropped by the bowler and on the first West Indies’ Zaida James getting cut on her jaw when the ball ricocheted off the hand.
James, a left-arm spinner who shared the new ball with Chinelle Henry, left the field with a swollen jaw after just bowling one ball of her first over and never returned.
Earlier, the West Indies suffered from regular wicket falls and struggled to put up a fighting total despite an unbeaten 44 from number-three batter Stafanie Taylor.
Marizanne Kapp, a medium-fast bowler, struck first with the wicket of skipper Hayley Matthews, out for 10, and soon Mlaba sent back Qiana Joseph, for four.
Mlaba, named player of the match, kept the batters in a spin with her change of pace and angle and took two wickets in two overs to flatten the West Indian batting.
Australia will begin their campaign on Saturday when they face Sri Lanka in Sharjah. England will take on Bangladesh in the second match of the day.
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AFP