South Africa beat Bangladesh but face nervous wait
Brits hits two fours in over for South Africa
- Published
Tazmin Brits hit 42 as South Africa clinched a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh but now face a nervous wait to see if they will qualify for the Women's T20 World Cup semi-finals.
South Africa moved top of Group B but were unable to overhaul West Indies' net run rate (NRR) as they chased down a modest target of 107 with 16 balls to spare.
In fact the Proteas' NRR actually decreased to +1.382, which is lower than West Indies' current rate of +1.708.
It means South Africa realistically need England, who face Scotland on Sunday, to beat West Indies on Tuesday to finish as runners-up. Or, less likely, for England to lose both their remaining matches.
South Africa lost in-form captain Laura Wolvaardt early on in their reply after she was stumped for seven by Bangladesh counterpart Nigar Sultana Joty off the bowling of Fahima Khatun, who finished with 2-19.
Bangladesh were left to rue a dropped catch in the eighth over after Fahima shelled a straightforward chance offered by Brits, when she was on 21.
Brits was eventually bowled by Ritu Moni but Marizanne Kapp and Chloe Tryon saw South Africa over the line without any further loss.
Bangladesh were already all but out of the tournament and this defeat confirmed their exit.
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Will Proteas pay price for cautious chase?
Kapp dismisses Dilara as South Africa strike early
South Africa made an ideal start to this contest as a combination of tight bowling and circumspect batting saw Bangladesh crawl to 10-1 off the first five overs without scoring a single boundary.
Sobhana Mostary and skipper Joty then shared a 45-run stand for Bangladesh's third wicket as they made 38 and 32 respectively.
Yet there was the unerring sense Bangladesh left runs out in the middle with so many wickets in hand when they finished up on a rather unthreatening 106-3.
Nonkululeko Mlaba, Annerie Dercksen and Kapp all claimed a wicket apiece for the Proteas.
When South Africa openers Wolvaardt and Brits approached the start of the chase with real zest, reaching 17-0 off two overs, it felt inevitable they would knock the runs off in no time.
However, when Wolvaardt became Joty's sixth stumping of the tournament - more than all of the other wicketkeepers in Group B combined - the rate quickly slowed against Bangladesh's predominantly spin attack.
Brits and Anneke Bosch, who made a run-a-ball 25, did not appear unduly hurried despite the opportunity to boost their NRR.
Whether their cautious pragmatism to ensure the victory was secured without giving overdue consideration to NRR was the right one remains to be seen.
Either way, if things pan out as expected and England beat Scotland on Sunday, a tense evening at the South Africa team hotel watching Heather Knight's side face West Indies on television lies in prospect next week.
'Hopefully we have done enough' - reaction
Fahima Khatun dances after dismissing Wolvaardt
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt: "It was really good to get the win. We wanted to chase it down quicker, but we got there.
"We didn't exactly know what we needed, I guess now we wait around for the other results, hopefully we have done enough to get to the semi-finals."
Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty: "Obviously how we started our game in the powerplay wasn't good. We couldn't get many runs.
"On this surface against South Africa, what we scored was not enough."