South Africa women bundle out Bangladesh for 76

South Africa waltzed to their fourth successive big victory of the ODI series, bundling out Bangladesh for 76 after posting 230. All of their bowlers kept a tight leash on the visitors, and each of the six who bowled in the game got at least one wicket. Their total was build on fifties from opener Lizelle Lee and No. 6 Chloe Tryon.

South Africa chose to bat and their openers, Lee and Laura Wolvaardt, laid a platform with 72 – even if the runs did not come too quickly. While Wolvaardt was out in the 21st over to Bangladesh’s most successful bowler on the day, left-arm spinner Nahida Akter, Lee carried on, accumulating runs at a steady pace to finish with 70 off 102 with nine fours.

Just when it looked like South Africa might still struggle to get past 200, given their pace of scoring, Tryon blasted off. She came in with the score at 139 for 4 with 14.1 overs to go in the innings. South Africa got 91 off those remaining 85 balls, with Tryon setting the pace; in all, she hit six fours and two sixes in her 60 off 42.

Chasing 231, Bangladesh never seemed in the game; apart from losing wickets at quick intervals, none of their batsmen could even touch a strike rate of 50 per hundred balls. Their top scorer was Fargana Hoque, with 22 runs off 48, with one four and a strike rate of 45.83. South Africa’s bowlers all kept a tight leash on the opposition, and shared the wickets around. New-ball bowler Shabnim Ismail (7-1-8-2) and offspinner Raisibe Ntozakhe (7-2-10-2) had the most-impressive figures of the lot.

South Africa’s victory aside, Lee also had personal reasons to celebrate at the end of the day; in making her 70, she became only the third South African woman to cross the 2000-run mark in ODIs, behind Mignon du Preez and Trisha Chetty.