9:52 PM IST, 21:22 Local Time: A comprehensive victory for South Africa Women and they clinched the 3-math ODI series 2-0 with one game still left to play. South Africa Women win by 6 wickets with 16 overs to spare. Earlier, after being invited to bat first, Pakistan Women were skittled for 168 runs in 44.2 overs. They got off to a disastrous start as they lost a flurry of wickets in a jiffy and were in a dire situation, struggling at 49/6 in the 18th over. At one moment, it seemed the Pakistani team would get bundled out under 100 runs, but Aliya Riaz and Fatima Sana had other plans today. The pair started the rescue mission and took their time to settle on the crease. The Proteas Women toiled hard to break this partnership, but they faced stubborn resistance from the other side.
The partnership between Aliya and Fatima moved past 100 runs, and they managed to put Pakistani batting back on track, with both of them achieving their half-century milestone. However, Nonkululeko Mlaba trapped Fatima for 69 runs and halted their progress. Following the wicket of Fatima, Pakistan Women again faced a mini collapse and lost the last three wickets in a jiffy, which included the wicket of Aliya, who departed for 53 runs.
Nadine de Klerk shone with the ball for South Africa, extracting four wickets for 32 runs in 8 overs. Masabata Klaas and Ayabonga Khaka chipped in with three and two wickets, respectively, while Nonkululeko Mlaba contributed one wicket to Pakistan’s downfall.
In pursuit of Pakistan’s 168 runs, Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits spearheaded the innings for the Proteas Women. The latter played a quick innings and set the tone for the innings, while Wolvaardt struggled to get going and was eventually dismissed after scoring 13 runs off 23 balls. Brits paired up with Lara Goodall and continued her merry ways, but alas, she fell just 5 runs shy of her well-deserved half-century, falling prey to Nida Dar. Goodall contributed 36 runs and threw away her wicket to Umm-e-Hani with a needless shot.
The last match centurion, Sune Luus, failed to make an impact with the bat today and departed for a mere 10 runs off 16 balls. Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk paired up in the middle, and the duo helped the Proteas Women chase down 168 runs easily. Kapp remained unbeaten on 29 runs, while de Klerk remained unbeaten on 24 runs.
Pakistan Women failed to defend 168 runs. Sadia Iqbal extracted a couple of wickets for Pakistan Women, while Umm-e-Hani and Nida Dar contributed one wicket.
Stay tuned for the post-match presentation and captains' speaking.🗣