174/2 (18.5)
CR : 9.24
172/4 (20.0)
CR : 8.60
New Zealand Women won by 8 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
Amelia Kerr
0/3170(46)
18.5
4
Klerk to A Kerr
FOUR! That's it, New Zealand Women successfully chased down 172 runs by 8 wickets and 7 balls to spare to go 1-0 up in the series. Full-length around off. Kerr shimmies down the track and drives it nicely towards long-off for a boundary to finish the game. This is the highest total successfully chased down by New Zealand Women in T20Is.
NZW won by 8 wickets
8:21 PM IST, 4:51 PM Local Time: Amelia Kerr finishes things off in style as New Zealand Women completes a comprehensive 8-wicket win over South Africa Women in this 4th T20I and now lead the series 1-0 with one game to go. A clinical run chase by the visitors and South Africa Women have some work to do if they want to comeback tomorrow and level the series.
Chasing 173 on a good batting track, New Zealand Women lost Suzie Bates early. Kate Anderson looked good for her 25 off 19 balls. But it was the Amelia Kerr-Sophie Devine show as the duo took the match away from the hosts and won them the game with a match-winning partnership. Amelia Kerr top scored as she got her highest score in T20IS to remain unbeaten on 70* off 46 balls. Giving her good company was skipper Sophie Devine who scored an unbeaten 61* off 37 balls. It means New Zealand Women got to the target in 18.5 overs.
It was a hard day for the South Africa Women bowlers as hardly any one was spared. A wicket for Masabata Klaas and Tumi Sekhukhune. The rest of the bowlers went wicketless.
Earlier in the game. South Africa Women were put into bat first by New Zealand Women. The hosts lost Tazmin Brits for 11. Skipper Laura Wolvaardt scored 53 off 44 balls. Anneke Bosch looked good for her 32 off 24 balls. Sune Luus scored 45 off 30 balls. Chloe Tryon played well and stayed unbeaten on 22* off 10 balls. The Proteas ended with 172/4 in 20 overs with 9 extras given by the fielding side.
It was a hard toil for the New Zealand Women bowlers as well. A couple of wickets for Jess Kerr while Hannah Rowe and Molly Penfold picked up a wicket apiece today. All in all, it was a great day for the batters in Benoni.
So, New Zealand Women wins this game by 8 wickets with 7 balls to spare to take a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series with one to play i.e. tomorrow. The first three games were abandoned due to rain. Stick around for the presentation ceremony.
Chasing 173 on a good batting track, New Zealand Women lost Suzie Bates early. Kate Anderson looked good for her 25 off 19 balls. But it was the Amelia Kerr-Sophie Devine show as the duo took the match away from the hosts and won them the game with a match-winning partnership. Amelia Kerr top scored as she got her highest score in T20IS to remain unbeaten on 70* off 46 balls. Giving her good company was skipper Sophie Devine who scored an unbeaten 61* off 37 balls. It means New Zealand Women got to the target in 18.5 overs.
It was a hard day for the South Africa Women bowlers as hardly any one was spared. A wicket for Masabata Klaas and Tumi Sekhukhune. The rest of the bowlers went wicketless.
Earlier in the game. South Africa Women were put into bat first by New Zealand Women. The hosts lost Tazmin Brits for 11. Skipper Laura Wolvaardt scored 53 off 44 balls. Anneke Bosch looked good for her 32 off 24 balls. Sune Luus scored 45 off 30 balls. Chloe Tryon played well and stayed unbeaten on 22* off 10 balls. The Proteas ended with 172/4 in 20 overs with 9 extras given by the fielding side.
It was a hard toil for the New Zealand Women bowlers as well. A couple of wickets for Jess Kerr while Hannah Rowe and Molly Penfold picked up a wicket apiece today. All in all, it was a great day for the batters in Benoni.
So, New Zealand Women wins this game by 8 wickets with 7 balls to spare to take a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series with one to play i.e. tomorrow. The first three games were abandoned due to rain. Stick around for the presentation ceremony.
Highest successful T20I chase by New Zealand women:
173 v SA, Today
173 v SA, Today
152 v AUS, 2013
149 v SA, 2018
140 v WI, 2018 Player of the Match: Amelia Kerr
Amelia Kerr (Player of the Match): "Yeah, it's been disappointing not to be able to play, but to get out there today and get the win and to have that partnership with Sophie as well. Yeah, it's always nice when you're batting at the other end with Sophie knowing she can clear the rope. It makes your job a little easier, but, yeah, just pleasing to get the win.
I think we're both quite different players, but I think as a partnership, we work quite well together and we just knew our roles and knew our strengths and it was about sticking to that. And then at one point, Sophie said, I'm going to take the game on, and we all know how fast she can hit a cricket ball, so that was kind of it and it was just simple and running hard and we were a bit tired near the end, it yeah, it paid off.
I think we're both quite different players, but I think as a partnership, we work quite well together and we just knew our roles and knew our strengths and it was about sticking to that. And then at one point, Sophie said, I'm going to take the game on, and we all know how fast she can hit a cricket ball, so that was kind of it and it was just simple and running hard and we were a bit tired near the end, it yeah, it paid off.
I think when we came here, we didn't quite know what a good score was and because the outfield is so fast, we thought chasing you, just give yourself a chance. So, for us, I guess we weren't sure, but that was the target and I think it was a good wicket fast outfield, that if we played well, we could have got the win, and that's what we did."
Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa Women Captain): "Frustrating to start this series in this way. Result did not go our way. It happens. Quick turnaround and we will come back stronger tomorrow. The score was good but I feel we did not execute well with the ball in the last 10 overs. Frustrating for us. We are missing Kapp a lot but that's the way it goes. Quick turnaround as I said and nothing to tell the girls. They know it. Just executing better and come back hard tomorrow to get the series levelling win."
Sophie Devine (New Zealand Women Captain): "Just happy to be playing some cricket. Obviously, pretty tough run down in East London, so just nice to be able to play under some sunshine and really proud of the team today. I thought 170 was a great score from South Africa, and for us to chase the way that we did, it's probably the blueprint of how we want to play cricket.
[Speaking about the wicket] Yeah, look, thought it was a good cricket wicket. I thought there was enough in it for bowlers. We had to work hard, but with the bat, I think once you're in, you need to cash in. So, look, it's a good cricket wicket and an absolutely rapid outfield, so you've got to be really on point with the ball, and yeah, really pleased with how we went today.
Yeah. Oh, look, certainly I think with the ball and in the field, we leaked a lot of runs and we expect that but it's how we, I guess, bounce back from that. So I thought there were some great efforts, but there were also some pretty poor efforts, to me included. So, look, I think that's cricket, isn't it? There are always things to improve on. So, looking forward again."
That's a wrap on our coverage for the day. Do join us tomorrow for the fifth and final T20I between South Africa Women and New Zealand Women. Stay tuned for more cricketing actions across the globe and across formats. Until next time, this is Ayan Chatterjee signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Deepak Prakash alongside scorer/analyst Chandan Kumar Singh. Stay safe, happy, and cool. Goodnight and CHEERS!