Wolvaardt hits record-equalling century as South Africa level ODI series

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A brilliant century from opener Laura Wolvaardt set the foundation for the Proteas, with captain Sune Luus adding a half-century of her own and Chloe Tryon smashing 43 from 24 balls late on.

And West Indies struggled in reply after losing in-form Deandra Dottin early, with only Kycia Knight passing 20 with a composed 69 off 94 balls.

South Africa’s win draws the series level at 1-1 with the final ODI to be held in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Opting to bat first, South Africa got off to a rapid start thanks to Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits, but West Indies fought back through Shamilia Connell who sent back Brits and then found another wicket, that of Anneke Bosch. Having lost two wickets in the powerplay, South Africa went about rebuilding their innings.

Wolvaardt found solid support from skipper Sune Luus and the duo kept piling on the runs. While the partnership started off at a slow pace, it quickly gathered momentum once Wolvaardt went past her half-century. With the partnership growing in stature, West Indies turned to their sixth bowling option, Stafanie Taylor, but it backfired as the duo milked 24 runs off her two overs.

Windies eventually broke through with the wicket of Luus in the 36th over, Anisa Mohammed cleaning up the hosts' skipper for 56 to break the stand. The 141-run partnership turned into South Africa's highest for the third wicket in women's ODIs.

Wolvaardt was well set by then and went on to push South Africa to a tall total. At one point it seemed like they would cross 300, which would have been the fourth such instance for them in women's ODIs, but they fell one run short of the mark with Wolvaardt completing her third ODI hundred, equalling Lizelle Lee for the most ODI tons by a South Africa women's player.

The West Indies' chase got off to a dreadful start when Rashada Williams fell in just the second over, with her in-form opening partner Deandra Dottin also dismissed for 12 inside the powerplay.

Knight led the recovery alongside captain Stafanie Taylor, but when the latter was forced to retire hurt with a concussion after facing just 24 balls it knocked what stuffing was left out of West Indies.

Hayley Matthews, Shemaine Campbelle and Chinelle Henry all got starts but failed to reach 20, while Knight’s brave resistance came to an end when she was caught for 69 off the bowling of Raisibe Ntozakhe.

The game was all over bar the shouting as the required run-rate shot through the roof with just the West Indies tail remaining.

And Shabnim Ismail wrapped up the win with her fourth wicket of the evening to dismiss Aaliyah Alleyne, leaving West Indies 96 runs short of their target with 5.2 overs remaining.