South Africa's women's cricket team celebrates their seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024.

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 BAN-W vs SA-W

South Africa team has clinched a provisional top position with a commanding victory

South Africa limited Bangladesh to just 106 runs through disciplined bowling © Getty

Bangladesh scored 106/3 in 20 overs, where as South Africa scored 107/3 in 17.2 overs.

So, finally South Africa beat Bangladesh by seven wickets.

South Africa cruised to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh, concluding their group stage with three wins from four matches and a Net Run Rate of 1.38.

The victory was built on a disciplined bowling performance that restricted Bangladesh to 106, a total that was chased down with 16 balls to spare.

The 2023 finalists now await the outcome of the England and West Indies matches to determine their position in the top two of Group B.

Conversely, Bangladesh will exit the tournament after securing just one win—against Scotland—in their four games.

Even in a contest with little at stake, Bangladesh adopted a cautious approach following the early loss of Dilara Akter to the second ball of the innings.

Marizanne Kapp’s length delivery moved away sharply, finding the edge of the batter’s bat.

South Africa’s new-ball pair, Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka, exploited significant movement both in the air and off the pitch, making it difficult for Bangladesh to score.

Remarkably, after five overs, Bangladesh had only managed 10 runs, with Shathi Rani contributing four off her 20-ball innings.

A recovery began in the final over of the Power Play when Sobhana Mostary finally found her rhythm.

Aware of the incoming inswinger, she lofted a drive over mid-on for a boundary and clipped a fuller delivery to fine leg for another four.

Rani quickly broke her shackles post-Power Play, lofting Nadine de Klerk over mid-off for four before slogging Annerie Dercksen for six.

However, Dercksen had the last laugh, inducing a miscued pull from Rani, which Anneke Bosch caught on the run.

A brief stabilization saw Bangladesh reach 43 for 2 at the halfway point of their innings, but Mostary accelerated after the drinks break, striking boundaries off Chloe Tryon and de Klerk.

Nigar Sultana struggled at the other end, managing only 7 runs off 22 balls before finally finding her first boundary in the 16th over.

Mostary fell for 38 off 43 balls while attempting to swipe Nonkululeko Mlaba, missing the delivery.

Despite this, Bangladesh managed to add 23 runs in the final two overs, with Sultana’s five twos helping them surpass the 100-run mark.

Having restricted Bangladesh to a subpar total, South Africa faced the dilemma of whether to boost their Net Run Rate further.

Brits made an early impact, hitting three boundaries off her first five balls.

However, there was no substantial opening stand this time, as Laura Wolvaardt was out stumped after being beaten by a well-aimed delivery from Fahima Khatun.

Fahima was Bangladesh’s standout bowler, keeping South Africa under control.

Only 36 runs were scored in the Power Play as last year’s finalists prioritized securing the win over chasing NRR points, avoiding risks that could jeopardize the two available points.

Bangladesh could have put more pressure on South Africa if Fahima had taken a straightforward catch to dismiss Brits when she was on 21.

Brits went on to score 42, forming a 53-run partnership with Anneke Bosch, effectively batting Bangladesh out of the contest.

Both batters fell within eight balls of each other, but South Africa easily polished off the remaining runs, now awaiting the outcome of their semifinal prospects.

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