The Proteas Women stumbled in their first attempt at the ICC Women’s World T20 2012 when they suffered an emphatic 121-run loss to England in Colombo on Saturday. Though it was only a warm-up match, it showed that the ladies from Africa still have a few areas to iron out before their opening match against hosts Sri Lanka on September 26th.
England won the toss and chose to bat first on an overcast day. They got the match off to a positive start after losing Laura Marsh for 22 at the hands of Marcia Letsoalo in the fifth over.
Captain Charlotte Edwards scored 54 from 38 balls before retiring out at the end of the 15th over. She was the anchor in her 46-run and 47-run partnerships with Sarah Taylor (31 off 18) and Lydia Greenway (23 from 21 balls). Arran Brindle (15) and Danielle Wyatt (24) added 43 more runs for their fifth wicket partnership to give England a competitive 180 runs for their 20 overs.
South Africa, with every intention of doing well against the World’s number one side, suffered an early setback when they lost Trisha Chetty for a duck at the start of the third over. Her opening partner Shandré Fritz produced the only notable innings, with 33 from 38 balls, and England cleaning SA up for 59 runs in the 19th over.
Coach, Yashin Ebrahim-Hassen said: “It was a disappointing match. To be bowled out for less than 60 was a bitter pill to swallow. We did try not to disclose too much in our bowling department, which is our strength and is something we’re saving for the tournament to start but I still felt we could have got closer to the target. The shot selection is going to become key for the batters in future matches.”
South Africa move to Galle on Sunday for the start of the tournament. They are in Group B with Sri Lanka, New Zealand and the West Indies.
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