Kelis Ndhlovu’s all-round show was instrumental as Zimbabwe edged past South Africa in a thriller to clinch the Women’s African Games.
Zimbabwe led by skipper Mary-Anne Musonda finished at the top of the points table in Group B with six points from three games and as a result, managed to stay unbeaten in the league stages of the tournament. South Africa on the other hand, led by skipper Nondumiso Shangase finished on the top of the points table in Group A with four points from three games. Their solitary defeat came against Namibia when they ended up on the losing side by one run.
The South African skipper Nondumiso Shangase won the toss and opted to field first against Zimbabwe in the final. After being inserted to bat first, Zimbabwe got off to a steady start, before they lost the wicket of Sharne Mayers. Leah Jones provided the first breakthrough for South Africa. Kelis Ndhlovu joined wicket-keeper batter Modester Mupachikwa at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 49-run partnership for the 2nd wicket before skipper Nondumiso Shangase picked up the much-needed wicket of Kelis Ndhlovu to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side.
Zimbabwe lost a couple of wickets in quick succession and found themselves at 83/4 in the 16th over of the innings. Zimbabwe eventually ended up with a total of 112/5 in their quota of overs. wicket-keeper batter Modester Mupachikwa (31 off 49 balls), Kelis Ndhlovu (28 off 27 balls), and Pellagia Mujaji (20 off 17 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Zimbabwe. Gandhi Jafta (4-0-14-1), Jane Winster (4-0-20-1), and Kayla Reyneke (4-0-21-1) were the top performers with the ball for South Africa.
Chasing a target of 113, South Africa got off to a poor start, losing their top order inside the powerplay. Leah Jones joined skipper Nondumiso Shangase at the crease with South Africa struggling at 20/3 in the 5th over of the run chase. The duo stitched a 15-run partnership for the 4th wicket before Loreen Tshuma picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Nondumiso Shangase to provide the 4th breakthrough for Zimbabwe.
Leah Jones soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 5th breakthrough for Zimbabwe. Wicket-keeper batter Karabo Meso joined Miane Smit at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 36-run partnership for the 6th wicket before Precious Marange picked up the wicket of wicket-keeper batter Karabo Meso to provide the 6th breakthrough for her side.
South Africa eventually just managed to level the scores in their quota of overs and as a result, the game moved into a super over. Zimbabwe eventually clinched the super over to win the Women’s African Games. Zimbabwe restricted South Africa to two runs in the super over as they claimed both their wickets in the first three balls of the over. Kelis Ndhlovu sealed the game for Zimbabwe by smashing a boundary off the 2nd ball of the over.
Maine Smit (31 off 32 balls), Leah Jones (15 off 20 balls), and wicket-keeper batter Karabo Meso (12 off 19 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Zimbabwe. Loreen Tshuma (4-0-14-1), Francisca Chipare (4-0-18-1), and Kelis Ndhlovu (3-0-21-2), and Precious Marange (4-0-26-1) were the top performers with the ball for Zimbabwe. Kelis Ndhlovu was awarded the Player of the Match for her outstanding all-round performance, scoring (28 off 27 balls) with the bat and returning with match figures (3-0-21-2) in her spell with the ball.
She was also awarded the Player of the Tournament for scoring 59 runs with the bat and picked up 9 wickets with the ball at an average of 8.44 in five innings. She was the joint 2nd-highest wicket-taker of the tournament, alongside the South African skipper Nondumiso Shangase.