Proteas women fall well short in Black Day match v Pakistan

Tazmin Brits leaves the field after going out in the first over of South Africa’s innings in Durban. Picture: Gerhard Duraan/Gallo Images A middle-order fightback was not enough to chase down Pakistan’s imposing 306/8, as the Proteas Women lost the third ODI by 119 runs in Durban. While it was something of a dead rubber in the series, after South Africa clinched anunassailable 2-0 lead, the final game offered points in the ICC Women’s Championship, the qualifying competition for the 2029 Women’s Cricket World Cup.

The Proteas women donned a black kit for the annual Black Day match, raising awareness of gender-based violence. But their poor bowling, and worse batting left a Durban crowd feeling gloomy after the hosts collapsed to 187 all out after 36.2 overs. Chasing the sizeable target, the Proteas women were always struggling after finding themselves at 7-3 inside the first three overs.

Captain Laura Wolvaardt (1), Tazmin Brits (4) andSuné Luus(0) fell to clinical bowling by Tasmia Rubab and Fatima Sana. However, Faye Tunnicliffe and the second ODI’s player of the match, Annerie Derckson, steadied the ship with a partnership of 85 before Tunnicliffe (47) edged the ball straight back to Nashra Sandhu. Sinalo Jafta (33) then joined Derckson (54) for a 50-run partnership before they both fell caught-and-bowled, Jafta first to Sadia Iqbal and Derckson then to Umm-e-Hani.

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Nadine de Klerk (8), Chloe Tryon (12), Nonkululeko Mlaba (4) and Tumi Sekhukhune (17) could not hang around to mount a chase. “It was not the way we wanted to end the series,” Wolvaardt said. “I think we were outplayed in all aspects of the game. They started really well with the bat and we weren’t on song with the ball, and it continued from there.

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