Proteas women slip in six-wicket defeat to White Ferns
· Citizen
South Africa put up a fight but ultimately fell in a six-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the third women’s T20 International in Auckland on Friday.
The White Ferns chased down their 150-run target with eight balls to spare, taking a 2-1 series lead with two matches to play.
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Proteas innings
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, the Proteas were in trouble at 9/2 in the third over of their innings, but captain Laura Wolvaardt (37 off 39) and Annerie Dercksen (27 off 18) managed to find some stablity, sharing 51 runs for the third wicket.
And Kayla Reyneke added a valuable 34 not out off 20 deliveries down the order as the tourists reached 149/7 in their 20 overs.
Sophie Devine (2/21) and Suzie Bates (2/10) were the best of New Zealand’s bowlers, ensuring they kept the SA team’s middle-order under pressure.
White Ferns innings
In response, all-rounder Devine led the charge for the hosts, hitting an unbeaten 55 runs off 38 balls, carrying her team to 152/4.
Dercksen, Ayanda Hlubi and Nonkululeko Mlaba took one wicket each but the Proteas bowling attack were unable to contain the White Ferns batters.
“We were maybe a little short with the bat. We did not have our best powerplay but did well to recover,” Wolvaardt said after the game.
“It was a total we thought we could defend, but it’s really hard when Devine bats through. We tried to limit the boundaries as well as we could but we could have deployed the wide plan earlier.”
The fourth of five T20 matches between SA and New Zealand will be played in Wellington on Sunday (3.45am start).