SA 268/7 (50 overs)
Marizanne Kapp 69 (34), Laura Wolvaardt 64 (69) Kavisha Dilhari 34-2 (10)
Beat
SL 231/10 (46.2 overs)
Chamari Athapaththu 94 (78), Anushka Sanjeewani 46 (68) Marizanne Kapp 41-2 (9)
By 30 runs (DLS method- Match reduced to 47 ovs due to rain target 262)
A whirlwind knock by Marizanne Kapp helped South Africa to seal the ODI series with one match to go. The second ODI, held at Senwes Park, Potchefstroom, saw Sri Lanka squander yet another winning position.
Put into bat, South Africa were steady – steady at a run-rate hovering around 4.3 and steady in losing wickets regularly – before Kapp intervened.
After a good start of 55 runs in the Powerplay, Andrie Steyn was trapped lbw by Inoka Ranaweera for 24 runs from 40 balls. Laura Wolvaardt compiled a steady fifty before edging a delivery from Shashikala Siriwardene to the keeper. She was dismissed for 64 runs from 69 balls.
Mignon du Preez fell cheaply to Kavisha Dilhari for 5. Sune Luus, captaining in place of Dane van Niekerk, was run out by Dilhari for 16 runs from 26 balls.
Nadine de Klerk’s furniture was disturbed by Oshadi Ranasinghe to depart for 15 runs from 24 balls. In the next over (42nd), Lara Goodall who held the innings together was dismissed by Dilhari for 52 runs from 77 balls.
South Africa were 183/6 from 42 overs and in danger of ending up with a subpar total. Then Kapp awoke.
She was severe on skipper Chamari Athapaththu and Ranaweera. 69 runs were plundered in the final five overs of the innings. Though Athapaththu bowled just three overs, two of them were bowled in the final five. It was a forgettable outing with the ball for the skipper.
Kapp fittingly brought up her half-century, off just 29 balls, with a six. She finished not out on 69 runs from 34 balls – an innings studded with four 6s and six 4s. The target was originally 269 from 50 overs. Then the rain came down in the 5th over and the target was adjusted by the DLS method to 262 from 47 overs. Sri Lanka lost an early wicket in their chase. Prasadani Weerakkody was dismissed by Kapp for 2 runs from 6 balls. Then Anushka Sanjeewani and Athapaththu built a 110-run partnership.
Luus induced an edge from Athapaththu’s bat and the lynchpin of Sri Lanka was on her way. Athapaththu sadly finished just 6 runs short of a fifth ODI century.
Kapp capped off her wonderful day by dismissing Sanjeewani (46 runs from 68 balls) with a yorker. Next ball Siriwardene was run-out by Wolvaardt for a golden duck.
Sri Lanka were 163/3 requiring 99 runs from 18 overs – a gettable task. But as has happened so often throughout this tour, Sri Lanka failed to close out the chase.
Matters were steady for 7 overs before Harshitha Madavi was dismissed by Tumi Sekhukhune for 30 runs from 36 balls. Wolvaardt effected a second run-out. The batter in this case was Ranasinghe (2 from 6).
Congratulations South Africa on winning the ODI series 2-0 against Sri Lanka Women. #AlwaysRising #SAWvsSLW pic.twitter.com/nrjloVUdcn
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 14, 2019
53 runs were required from 42 balls with 4 wickets in hand. But Nilakshi de Silva, on whom Sri Lankan hopes now rested, flicked in the air and was caught to be dismissed by Sekhukhune for 26 runs from 48 balls.
Thereafter the result was inevitable. The remaining three wickets added 18 and Sri Lanka fell short by 31 runs. Kapp was deservedly the Player of the Match.
Outstanding stuff from an outstanding all-rounder @kappie777 who scored 69 runs in just 34 balls and 2 wickets to help her side claim another series victory over Sri Lanka Women. These #ProteasWomen are #AlwaysRising #SAWvSLW pic.twitter.com/8coXRLt08b
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 14, 2019
