South Africa defeated Bangladesh by three wickets as they continued their winning streak at the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup at the Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, on Monday.
A collective bowling effort, followed by half-centuries from Marizanne Kapp and Chloe Tryon, led South Africa to a narrow victory.
Chasing a modest target of 233 runs, the Proteas had to put in hard yards as they eventually smashed the winning runs for the loss of seven wickets and three balls to spare.
Leading the way for them was the all-round duo of Tryon and Kapp, who smashed crucial half-centuries before Nadine de Klerk put the finishing touches with an unbeaten cameo of 37 runs, taking just 29 deliveries and having five boundaries, including a six.
Tryon remained the top scorer for the Proteas, scoring 62 off 69 deliveries, peppered with six fours and a six, while Kapp made a 76-ball 51.
Earlier, top batsmen Wolvaardt and Anneke Bosch made handy contributions with 31 and 28 respectively. The duo also shared a 55-run partnership for the second wicket, helping South Africa recover from 3/1 in 1.1 overs.
Nahida Akter was the bowlers’ favorite for Bangladesh, taking two wickets for 44 runs in 9.3 overs, while Rabeya Khan and Fahima Khatun each struck once.
Batting first, Bangladesh could amass 232/6 in the 50 overs allotted despite half-centuries ahead of Shorna Akter and Sharmin Akhter.
Shorna top-scored for Bangladesh with an unbeaten 51 off just 35 deliveries, peppered with three sixes and as many fours, while Sharmin made a cautious 77-ball 50, with six fours.
Besides them, skipper Nigar Sultana (32) made a remarkable contribution.
Openers Fargana Hoque and Rubya Haider scored 30 and 25 respectively but conceded a total of 128 deliveries, ultimately preventing Bangladesh from amassing a defendable total.
For South Africa, Nonkululeko Mlaba picked up two wickets, while de Klerk and Tryon bagged one each.
The three-wicket win, which marked South Africa’s third-place finish on the trot, moved them to third position in the ICC Women’s World Cup standings with six points in four matches, while Bangladesh remained sixth with two points in as many matches.
