Marizanne Kapp leads the South Africa fightback as the visitors survive a spirited effort from the lower order to clinch their maiden, series-leveling victory over Australia.
The home side Australia led by skipper Alyssa Healy clinched the 1st ODI by 8 wickets and with 31 overs to spare.
Skipper Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to field first in the 2nd ODI at the North Sydney Oval. The match was eventually reduced to a 45-over-per-side contest courtesy of rain. After being inserted to bat first, the visitors, South Africa suffered a huge blow as they lost the wicket of their skipper Laura Wolvaardt in the 3rd over of the innings. Megan Schutt provided the first breakthrough for Australia. Anneke Bosch joined opening batter Tazmin Brits at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 55-run partnership for the 2nd wicket before Annabel Sutherland picked up the wicket of the opening batter Tazmin Brits to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side.
Anneke Bosch soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Australia. Marizanne Kapp joined former skipper Sune Luus at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 46-run partnership for the 4th wicket before Ashleigh Gardner came back and picked up the wicket of Sune Luus to provide the 4th breakthrough for Australia.
Nadine de Klerk joined Marizanne Kapp at the crease and the duo stitched another handy 36-run partnership for the 5th wicket before Kim Garth picked up the wicket of Nadine de Klerk to provide the 5th breakthrough for her side. Chloe Tryon joined Marizanne Kapp at the crease and the duo stitched a 45-run partnership for the 6th wicket before Megan Schutt came back and picked up the wicket of Marizanne Kapp to provide the 6th breakthrough for her side. The visitors, South Africa eventually ended up with 229/6 in their quota of overs.
Marizanne Kapp (75 off 87 balls), Anneke Bosch (44 off 46 balls), and Chloe Tryon (37 off 36 balls) were the top performers with the bat for South Africa. Megan Schutt (2/35), Ashleigh Gardner (2/31) and Kim Garth (1/42) were the top performers with the ball for Australia. Chasing a target of 230, the Australian openers got off to a steady start scoring just over 5 runs an over before Marizanne Kapp picked up the massive wicket of the opposition skipper Alyssa Healy to provide the first breakthrough for South Africa.
✅ Beat Australia in T20Is
✅ Beat Australia in ODIsThat is some start to South Africa's 2024 😎#CricketTwitter #AUSvSA pic.twitter.com/cAqq7Ib8Yo
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 7, 2024
The home side suffered a mini collapse as they lost their next three wickets for just 15 runs and found themselves struggling at 37/4 inside the powerplay. Annabel Sutherland joined Tahlia McGrath at the crease and the duo stitched a 21-run partnership for the 5th wicket before Eliz-mari Marx picked up the wicket of Annabel Sutherland to provide the 5th breakthrough for South Africa. Australia suffered another mini-collapse as they lost their next three wickets for just 13 runs and found themselves in deeper trouble at 71/8 in 14 overs staring at a possibility of getting bundled out under a 100.
75 Runs and 3 Wickets 👏
Marizanne Kapp – an all-round contribution on a special win. #CricketTwitter #AUSvSA pic.twitter.com/p3rjLeThx5
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 7, 2024
Kim Garth joined Ashleigh Gardner at the crease. The duo scripted a spirited fightback with a 77-run partnership for the 9th wicket before Eliz-mari Marx picked up the much-needed wicket of Ashleigh Gardner to eventually put the final nail in the coffin. Australia were bundled out for 149 with over 20 overs to spare. Kim Garth (42 off 48 balls), Ashleigh Gardner (35 off 52 balls), and Tahlia McGrath (22 off 26 balls) were the top performers and the lone warriors with the bat for Australia.
Marizanne Kapp (3/12), Eliz Mari-marx (2/22), Nadine de Klerk (2/26), and Ayanda Hlubi (2/41) were the top performers with the ball for South Africa. All-rounder Marizanne Kapp was awarded the Player of the Match for her exceptional match-winning performance (75 off 87 balls) with the bat and (3/12) with the ball. South Africa sealed a comprehensive 84-run victory, their maiden victory over Australia in the ODI format.