Healy-Mooney fifties followed by pacers, Alana King, and Tahlia McGrath’s brilliance Secure ODI Series for Australia
South Africa led by skipper Laura Wolvaardt sealed a historic, maiden victory over Australia in the ODI format by a comprehensive margin of 84 runs to level the three-match ODI series (1-1). Marizanne Kapp inspired a spirited performance from the visitors. She was awarded the Player of the Match for her exceptional performances (75 off 87 balls) with the bat and she followed that up with sensational match figures (3/12) with the ball.
The Australian skipper Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to bat first in the series decider at the North Sydney Oval. The home side got off to a poor start, as they lost the wicket of the opening batter Phoebe Litchfield in the 6th over of the innings. Masabata Klaas provided the first breakthrough for South Africa. Ellyse Perry joined skipper Alyssa Healy at the crease and the duo led the recovery with a crucial 82-run partnership for the 2nd wicket before Masabata Klaas picked up her second wicket of the day to provide the much-needed breakthrough for her side.
Skipper Alyssa Healy made her way back to the pavilion. Eliz-mari Marx provided a massive breakthrough for South Africa. Tahlia McGrath joined Beth Mooney at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 67-run partnership for the 4th wicket before Chloe Tryon cleaned up Tahlia McGrath to provide the much-needed breakthrough for South Africa. Ashleigh Gardner soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 5th breakthrough for the visitors.
Annabel Sutherland joined Beth Mooney at the crease and the duo took Australia closer to the 250-run mark with a 54-run partnership for the 6th wicket. Masabata Klaas came back and picked up the wicket of Annabel Sutherland to break an ominous partnership in the 46th over of the innings. Australia eventually ended up with a total of 277/9 in their quota of overs. Beth Mooney (82 off 91 balls), skipper Alyssa Healy (60 off 73 balls), and Tahlia McGrath (44 off 35 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Australia. Masabata Klaas (4/56), Marizanne Kapp (1/28), and Chloe Tryon (1/50) were the top performers with the ball for South Africa.
Chasing a target of 278, the visitors found themselves in deep trouble at 52/4, losing the top order in the first 11 overs of the run chase. The rains arrived and the match was eventually reduced to a 31-overs-per-side contest. Sune Luus and Nadine de Klerk resumed the innings after the rain break continuing the rebuilding stage with a 50-run partnership for the 5th wicket before Alana King picked up the wicket of Nadine de Klerk to provide the much-needed breakthrough for the hosts.
South Africa suffered a collapse as they lost their next four wickets for just 14 runs and found themselves starring at a heavy defeat in a matter of 29 balls they went from being in with a chance to script history to being pinned on the mat in a crucial series decider. Kim Garth came back and cleaned up Ayanda Hlubi to put the final nail in the coffin to wrap up the game, set, and the series, folding the visitors for 127 in the 25th over of the run chase to seal a massive 110-run victory.
Sune Luus (34 off 38 balls), Tazmin Brits (31 off 37 balls), and Nadine de Klerk (20 off 24 balls) were the top performers with the bat for South Africa, and Alana King (4/26), Kim Garth (3/14), and Tahlia McGrath (3/23) were the top performers with the ball for Australia. Tahlia McGrath was awarded the Player of the Match for her match-winning performance (44 off 35 balls) with the bat and (3/23) with the ball.