South Africa’s unbeaten women’s Proteas side have emphatically secured one of two available 2009 Women’s Cricket World Cup berths after their seven-wicket semi-final victory in their WC Qualifier over Ireland in Stellenbosch on Friday.
South Africa achieved the victory target of 108 for the loss of three wickets in
the 28th over, with opener Olivia Anderson carrying her bat in
a top-scoring effort (46 not-out) to see her side to a fourth straight
win in five days.
"We’re really relieved and very happy to have pulled it off" said South Africa’s skipper Cri-Zelda Brits after the match. "The team haven’t let me down since I’ve taken over the captaincy, and we’ve stuck at it and come to the party at this event with the bowling."
Paying tribute to Anderson, who won her second Player of the Match Award in the tournament after making her debut for her country on Monday, Brits said "I’m very happy for Olivia. She has showed tremendous guts during this week, and if we have fourteen other players like that then I’m ready for the World Cup!"
Once again an inspired bowling performance was led by spinner Sunette Loubser, claiming 2-12 in her 10 overs, taking her tournament tally to nine wickets in the four matches, including six wickets for three runs on the opening day, while Alicia Smith also chipped in with two wickets.
South Africa started the week well on Monday with a 10-wicket win over Bermuda, who could only reach 13 all-out in 18 overs, an asking total which Anderson and vice-captain Claire Terblanche achieved in four balls, admittedly with the aid of 10 extras care of the visiting island team.
In their second match against Papua New Guinea, the South Africans were put in to bat, posting the tournament’s high-score of 298/7 in 50 overs, Terblanche smacking 76 runs off 68 balls, while a more measured Anderson fell just short of a century. In reply PNG could only manage 28 runs before being bowled out in the 18th over.
After a rest day on Wednesday, South Africa secured their tournament semi-final with a comfortable win over the Netherlands, their most astute Pool A competitors, where the South African team once again enjoyed a convincing advantage, first putting 277/4 on the board, before bowling the European side out for a total of 50 runs in the 42nd over.
Captain Cri-Zelda Brits was magnificent with an unbeaten 107 in 130 balls, while Annelie Minnie came to the party contributing 73 runs in 81 balls, before Alicia Smith weighed in with 45 runs in 30 balls at the end of the innings.
South Africa will now face Pakistan in the final of the WC Qualifier on Sunday, after the sub-continent team beat the Netherlands by 94 runs when they won the toss and chose to bat. Their innings total of 162 all-out proved too much for the Netherlands, who were bowled out in the 32nd over for 69, making Pakistan the final team to qualify for the 2009 World Cup.
Despite talk that the South African team hadn’t been tested, owing to the weakness of the teams over which they exerted such dominance, there will be no disappointment in a team that has convincingly won the right to contest the first-ever Women’s World Cup to be played under the auspices of the ICC in Australia next year, and they will be intent on erasing the doubts which arose after their embarrassing performance in the previous World Cup.
Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies have already qualified for the 2009 event according to their top-six ODI rankings in the last global event in 2005, played in South Africa.
For further information and statistics, visit the official ICC website.
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