Women's World Cup: Australia registers sixth win to defeat South Africa
The Australian women's team has been exceptional in this World Cup. They have dominated until now, irrespective of the team they face. They successfully chased down 272 runs with 5 wickets and 28 balls remaining
Image credit: pia.images.co.uk Meg Lanning's brilliant knockA respectable total by South Africa
The day commenced with the Australian captain choosing to bowl. South African openers set the stage was set right for the batters to follow. Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt stitched a magnificent 88-run partnership in 119 balls, as Laura Wolvaardt went to make 90 in 134 balls. During this spell, she made a 91-run in 92 ball partnership with captain Sune Luus as the latter made 52. Marizanne Kapp, with her 30-run knock, scaled the total to 271 for Australia at the loss of five wickets.
Meg Lanning's captaincy knock
For in-form Australia batters, the target of 272 looked within reach. But their openers didn't get off to a good start as Rachael Haynes and Alyssa Healy got dismissed for 17 and 5 runs, respectively. But the Australian line-up is no short of good batters. Captain Meg Lanning came at number three and remained un-dismissed till the last ball to play the monumental inning of 135 runs in 130 balls. She fetched an average of 65-plus in run-chases, which is the best in women's cricket. While chasing, her tons climbed to 10, double that of the following best Amy Satterthwaite. Losing Alyssa Healy in the third over, and another two crucial wickets in 10-20 overs, in the absence of full-time captain Ellyse Perry due to injury, definitely put Australia in a challenging situation today. However, substitute captain Meg Lanning took over the role very gracefully playing the anchoring role for the team. She played her inning with perfection, meeting the required run-rate in middle overs, slowing down when needed. The team altogether flexed their batting power in the best way to chase down the target with 28 balls to spare in the end. South African bowlers dropped nearly seven catches in their inning.
Meg Lanning (Player of the Match) said, "It was nice to contribute. We speak of the top four batting through and playing those match-winning innings. I thought Kapp and Ismail bowled well. I felt I left more balls than I ever have. It was important. Ismail was bowling quick and didn't bowl any bad balls that swung the game towards SA in that period. I thought I wasn't as clinical in the earlier games. I had my plans clear and hopefully, it would continue. I knew I had to be the one to bat through today. Mooney and Tahila took the pressure off me as well. Number three is a crucial position to impact the game."
South Africa got their first defeat of this season in the ICC Women's World Cup while Australian Women's have now 18 successful consecutive wins while chasing since 2018 leaving the Indian men's team behind at 17. Australia maintains their spot at number 1 in the Points table and South Africa at 2.