South Africa Women hungry to win 5-0

On their way to an unassailable 3-0 lead in their five-match series against Bangladesh, South Africa Women have twice bundled out the opposition for under 100.

The victory margins have been 106 runs, nine wickets with 197 balls left, and in the most recent win on Wednesday 9 May, nine wickets with 214 balls remaining.

It has been a dominant performance all round. But even guaranteed the one-day international series win, South Africa are keener than ever not to take their foot off the pedal. A series sweep is what they’re after.

“We want to win 5-0, that’s our goal,” said Salieg Nackerdien, the interim coach. “We wanted to dominate the series with bat and ball, and on the field. The execution of players was spot on.”

Nackerdien was pleased that every game had different people making handy contributions and pick up the Player of the Match award. He hoped for that trend to continue, even as he urged the players to keep up their performances. “We can’t get complacent, we still need to work hard.”

Leading the batting charts after three games is Lizelle Lee, the opener, who has 130 runs at 65.00. On Wednesday, she was declared Player of the Match for her steady unbeaten 44 off 51 balls.

“There were a few games where we only needed to get like 12 runs and I threw away my wicket, so it was good to come off and [carry the team over the line],” she said.

“We really want to go 5-0 up,” she added, pointing out that the team was coming together well. “This is the first time in a while that everybody has contributed. Normally it was only the bowlers doing so well and the batters failing us. It’s good to see the batters do well.”

Ayabonga Khaka, who followed up her 3/13 in the second game with 3/16 in the third, said the key in the third game at Kimberley was to bowl to their lines and get the basics right.

“When Kappie (Marizanne Kapp) bowled the first over, I knew it wasn’t like the [first two surfaces]. I wanted to bowl back of the length. At Potchefstroom I had bowled full.”

Also encouraging for the hosts are the new faces who’ve come in and made a case for selection. Zintle Mali, who’s risen through the ranks from the Emerging side, went for 1/6 on debut in the five overs she bowled.

“She’s been working hard to come here and play with her role models,” said Khaka. “It was nice to see what she can do and prove to everyone what she can bring to her side.”

The next match is on Friday 11 May at Kimberley.