Proteas women off to winning start

Cape Town - The Proteas women got their Twenty20 series off to a good start with an 11-run victory over the West Indies at Kingsmead on Friday.

A good, all-round performance saw the national women's team take a one-nil lead in the three-match series. 

They posted 125/6 at the end of their allotted overs after electing to bat first on a low and slow Durban wicket. Openers, Dané van Niekerk (22 off 18) and Trisha Chetty (16 off 18) got the side off to a solid start with a 41-run stand before Chetty was dismissed in the sixth over. Van Niekerk’s innings included two 4s and two 6s before her dismissal just two balls later. 

The hosts got a bit of a scare with the fall of Mignon du Preez' (5) wicket in the ninth, but Lizelle Lee (35) and Marizanne Kapp (20) put 48 runs together for the fourth wicket to recover the innings and get the scoreboard ticking again. Suné Luus chipped in with an unbeaten 16 runs off 15 deliveries to cap off a satisfactory innings. 

The bowlers, led by Shabnim Ismail (3/12), needed to be at their best to defend the target. They had the Windies four wickets down for just 16 runs in the fifth over thanks to Ismail’s triple strike and another wicket taken by Odine Kirsten (1/26) on debut.

Deandra Dottin entered the fray when her side were struggling to keep their wickets and hit a much-needed 40 from 31 balls to bring them back into the match. She and Stacy-Ann King (29) shared a 72-run, fifth-wicket partnership to take the Windies to the brink of victory before Dané van Niekerk (2/19) removed both batters in the 16^th over to move the match firmly back in South Africa’s hands.

The bowlers and fielders held their nerve to secure a well-played win in the end.

Ismail achieved the distinction of taking her 50th T20 International wicket. It was also South Africa’s first win over the West Indies in this format.