South Africa extended their dominant run at the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup with an impressive 10-wicket win over Sri Lanka in a rain-affected match in Colombo on Friday.
In a match reduced to 20 overs, the Proteas first leveled Sri Lanka at 105-7 and then chased down a revised target of 121 in 14.5 overs, consolidating their grip on second place in the points table.
The win moved South Africa to eight points, just one behind defending champions Australia, who have nine. England, the four-time winners, are third with seven points but have a game in hand against South Africa.
The fickle weather in Colombo, which has already drowned out three matches, played spoilsport again. After opting to bat, Sri Lanka were 46-2 when the heavens opened. Once the air cleared, umpires cut the match down to 20 overs per side.
“We looked at it as a T20 match and didn’t want to leave it to the end,” skipper Laura Wolvaardt said. “Quite difficult with all those rain delays, but in the end it worked well for us.”
Wolvaardt led from the front with a scintillating unbeaten 60 from 47 deliveries, while left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba’s tidy 3-30 put the brakes on after the rain break.
The South African bowlers tightened the screws, conceding just 59 runs in the last eight overs while taking five wickets.
Vishmi Gunaratne’s breezy 34 with six boundaries was the only bright spark for Sri Lanka.
Chasing with six hours left, the South African openers made the goal easy and struck with the composure of a side high on confidence.
Wolvaardt’s half-century was her second of the tournament, while Tazmin Brits rediscovered her touch with an unbeaten 55 from 42 balls, peppered with four fours and two towering sixes, the latter through mid-wicket to seal the game in style.
Their unbroken stand of 125 runs came off just 89 deliveries.
For a side that lost by a score of 69 in their opening match against England, South Africa’s turnaround was remarkable, with four wins on the trot, including an abomination over India.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, remain winless after five matches in a season plagued by rain and inconsistency.
Returning to the world stage after missing the 2022 edition, Chamari Athapaththu’s side have had little luck as two of their matches have been wiped out.
“It was a frustrating campaign with so much rain,” Athapaththu lamented. “Our spinners struggled to hold the ball today, but we still have two games to go and want to finish on a high note.”
