South Africa has continued to inspire one and all with their hearty performances and today was no different as they pulled off a spectacular win versus Sri Lanka by a margin of 1 run. South Africa won the toss and decided to bat first.
Batting first, South Africa had a decent outing in retrospect. Simone Lourens and Miane Smit gave a brisk start to the South African batting but with Lourens being the first to fall for a run a ball 14, the same over saw the dismissal of Smit for a run a ball 8. Dewmi Vihanga was the wrecker in charge of getting rid of the openers. New batters at the crease, Kayla Reyneke and Madison Landsman stitched a crucial partnership and most importantly kept the scoreboard ticking. Landsman however was out for a cameo of 21 off 12 by Harini Perera and Jenna Evans too chipped in with 22 till she was out for another cameo of 22. Karabo Meso had a quiet outing as she was out for 12 and with Reyneke out for a well-crafted 43, South Africa ended on 134/7 in their quota of 20 overs. Vidushika Perera was the pick of the bowlers for her three-wicket haul and Vihanga too impressive with her two wickets.
Sri Lanka had Nethmi Senarathna and Sumudu Nisansala to kickstart the proceedings but the unfortunate run out of the latter was a setback to the Sri Lankan batting and with Vishmi Gunaratne and Senarathna getting dismissed for 12 and 36 respectively, Sri Lanka was saddled with some dismissals. Dewmi Vihanga played a well-crafted 37 and held one end it was after her dismissal, things got complicated for Sri Lanka. A slew of dismissals saddled Sri Lanka even more that saw some runouts as well. Manudi Nanayakkara’s cameo went in vain as Sri Lanka lost by a margin of 1 run. Kayla Rayneke was remarkable as she scalped 2 wickets and the rest of the South African bowlers should be credited for bringing the match so close.
🇿🇦 South Africa U19 won by 1 run
🇿🇦 South Africa U19: 134-7 (20)
Kayla Reyneke: 43 (49)
Jenna Evans: 22 (15)
Vidushika Perera 3-25🇱🇰 Sri Lanka U19: 133-8 (20)
Dewmi Vihanga: 37 (23)
Nethmi Senarathne: 36 (49)
Kayla Reyneke 2-16#CricketTwitter #U19T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/IA1tYVfkAX— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 24, 2023
Brief Scores: SA- 134/7 (K Reyneke 43, J Evans 22; V Perera 3/25, D Vihanga 2/22) defeated SL- 133/8 (D Vihanga 37, N Senarathna 36; K Reyneke 2/16) by 1 run
I am a first year postgraduate student pursuing a MA in Media and Communication Studies at Christ University, Bengaluru. I am a podcaster, blogger and an avid cricket fan. When not glued to cricket matches, you can find me submerged in books and thinking about cricket all the time.