Obakeng Meletse
SOUTH Africa take on Sri Lanka in the second T20 International at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom at 2pm today and victory would see the Proteas win their first T20 series of the summer and the first in four attempts.
The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup kicks off in September in Bangladesh and both sides have been vocal about using this series as preparation to fine-tune their squads for the tournament.
The Proteas beat Sri Lanka by 79 runs in the first T20 at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Wednesday as the islanders were bowled out for 119 with 10 balls remaining in their innings.
The victory meant that Proteas managed to tick one box with their clinical all-round performance, as leading up to the series, there was a lot said about starting well and winning important moments within the game, and there were a lot of positives for coach Hilton Moreeng to take into the second encounter.
Captain Laura Wolvaardt was the star of the night as she led from the front and scored her maiden T20 century (102 off 63 balls) in an innings that will go down as one of her best. Wolvaardt got going early and achieved a strike rate of 161.9 hitting an impressive 12 boundaries and three sixes.
South Africa looked positive and had intent from ball one of their batting innings, and stuck to their game plan even with the loss of wickets along the way. They looked nothing like a side that has struggled in this format previously in the summer.
Marizanne Kapp impressed once again as she walked to the crease and started to middle every ball, displaying amazing power hitting with clean strokes and early intent to get to 60 off 40 deliveries.
South Africa will be aware of the danger posed by Sri Lanka as they have previously lost to them in a World Cup match. Chamari Athapaththu was the highest scorer with 68 runs in that match but didn’t perform well in Wednesday’s match and only managed to score one off three balls.
Sri Lanka will be looking to avoid defeat as they lost the most recent series against South Africa 3-0 away in the 2018/19 season and 2-1 at home in 2014/15.
The JB Marks Oval might offer their spinners a bit of assistance compared to the Willowmoore Park pitch that was good for batting.
Prior to the series, Moreeng said they will want to test the depth of their squad and will look to give a chance to as many players as possible to showcase what they can do with spots up for grabs ahead of the World Cup.
A win in Potchefstroom will not only ensure a series win but will give them a chance and room to try out a few more combinations in the final T20 as they continue to search for a settled side.