South Africa started their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign in Dubai on a high note on Friday, defeating the West Indies by a margin of 10 wickets.
In a thrilling opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Dubai on Friday, South Africa easily defeated the West Indies by 10 wickets, demonstrating their superior strength. West Indies, asked to bat first, were held to 118 for six, but if Stafanie Taylor hadn’t hit 44 off just 41 balls, the total would have been much lower. Left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba achieved career-best scores of 4/29 for South Africa, while Marizanne Kapp finished with 2/14. With 13 balls remaining, South Africa finished the task in response.
The last edition’s runners-up were comfortably defeated by skipper Laura Wolvaardt (59 off 55 balls) and Tazmin Brits (57 off 52 balls), who had earlier in the day produced a fantastic catch at cover point.
Hayley Matthews (10 off 11 balls) was caught behind by Marizanne Kapp to provide the first breakthrough of the day. Earlier, South Africa’s bowlers kept the West Indians on the back foot by bowling a tight line and length.
When left-arm spinner Mlaba bowled Qiana Joseph in the fifth over, her laborious stint in the middle was done.West Indies fell to 32/3 after Kapp dismissed Deandra Dottin (13 off 11 balls). From then, the Windies were unable to score enough runs to match their opponents.
