The Proteas women held their nerve and secured a two-wicket, series clinching victory over Sri Lanka after Suné Luus set up them up with a second career five-wicket haul at the Bidvest Wanderers on Sunday. The nail-biting encounter saw the hosts take their victory with one ball to spare as they claimed an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Luus’ 5/14 in 3.4 overs was not even her career best, she took a sensational 5/8 against Ireland at the 2016 ICC Women’s World T20 in India. Today however, she helped bundle out the visitors for 105 with two deliveries to spare after the home side won the toss and put them in to bat first. Shashikala Siriwardene and Chamari Attapattu were the leading run scorers with 38 (33 balls) and 20 (29) respectively, while Marizanne Kapp wreaked havoc up front, ending her spell with 3/17.
South Africa’s reply got off to a flying start thanks to captain Dané van Niekerk who struck a scorching 33 from 19 deliveries, including six boundaries and a six before getting caught and bowled by Achini Kulasuriya (1/24) in the fourth over.
The hosts then went from 57/4 in 11 overs to 97/8 thanks to a batting collapse that saw only Lara Goodall (17), Nadine de Klerk and Tazmin Brits (10) reach double figures. Eighteen year-old De Klerk was impressive in her resolve, returning not out for 15 runs while the pressure mounted as she watched wickets fall around her. It was only fitting that she should also hit the winning runs in the end.
The third and final T20 will take place at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Wednesday, 06 February at 13:00 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport 2. The build-up will begin at 12:45.
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