The Australian eves, on Saturday, registered a comprehensive victory over their South African counterparts by 59 runs at Taunton. Australia rode on fifties from Beth Mooney (53), Nicole Bolton (79) and Elysse Perry (55) to post a total of 269 on the board before getting bowled out in the penultimate over of the innings.
Sune Luus was the pick of the South African bowlers with figures of 5/67.
South Africa made a shaky start to the chase, losing Lizelle Lee cheaply (9). However, Laura Wolvaardt (71) ensured that South Africa remained in the hunt with her magnificent innings that unfortunately ended up in a losing cause. The Australian bowlers bowled well in tandem to dismiss South Africa for 210 runs.
Jess Jonassen, Perry and Rachael Haynes picked up a couple of wickets each as Australia won the match by 59 runs. Let us now have a look at the talking points from the match.
#1 Century stand between Australian openers
The Aussie opening duo of Beth Mooney and Nicole Bolton got their team off to a flying start with a century stand. Both batters started off their innings with an attacking mindset and a positive attitude. The duo went about their business at almost the same pace, smashing the South African bowlers to all parts of the ground.
Bolton was the first to bring up her fifty and Mooney followed soon after. Bolton scored 79 runs off 87 deliveries, including 10 boundaries. Mooney, on the other hand, didn’t last long after bringing up her fifty. She was the first batter to be dismissed, scoring 53 runs off 58 deliveries.
#2 Sune Luus’s fifer that restricted Australia
Sune Luus completely changed the complexion of the game during Australia’s innings. She changed the momentum of the game with back-to-back strikes in the 29th over. First, Nicole Bolton fell victim to her, offering an easy catch to Marizanne Kapp on the penultimate delivery of the 29th over. Next, she cleaned up Ellyse Villani with a cracking delivery. Thus, Australia were reduced to 154/4 from 154/2.
Moreover, when Ellyse Perry and Alex Blackwell took control of the game having stitched together a partnership of 75 runs, Luus struck again, dismissing Perry for a score of 55 (58).
Australia were thus reduced to 229/6 in the 41st over. She completed her five wicket haul with the wickets of Alyssa Healy (16) and Ashleigh Gardner (4) in the 43rd and 45th over respectively. Luus ended with figures of 5/67 in her 10 overs.
#3 Elysse Perry’s all-round performance makes the difference
It was Perry’s all-round performance with both bat and ball that made the difference for Australia. Walking out to bat with Australia having lost two wickets in quick succession, Perry steadied the innings with her run-a-ball knock. Wickets tumbled at one end, but Perry held fort at the other.
By the time she was dismissed, she had already got Australia to a safe total of 229. She scored 55 runs off just 58 deliveries, an innings that constituted 7 fours and 1 six.
Perry also produced an outstanding performance with the ball. She conceded only 47 runs and picked up two wickets in her 10 overs. On one side, she dried up the runs and on the other side, picked up wickets. Her first victim was Sune Luus (6) who was out caught by Alyssa Healy and the other was Ayabonga Khaka, who was trapped plumb in front of the wickets.
#4 Laura Wolvaardt’s fighting innings
Lizelle Lee had been firing with the bat in the previous games, however, when she failed to contribute, her opening partner took over the responsibility. She played a calm and composed innings of 71 runs off 94 deliveries.
She was involved in one partnership of 67 runs for the second wicket with Trisha Chetty, a couple of 30-run stands with Lizelle Lee and Mignon du Preez and one 16-run stand with Marizanne Kapp which came to an end with her own dismissal. Her wicket reduced South Africa to 148/4 and they fell like a pack of cards thereafter.
#5 South Africa lose their last six wickets for 48 runs
Marizanne Kapp and Mignon du Preez tried to get South Africa across the line, despite them requiring 107 runs to win from 83 deliveries. However, they succumbed to the pressure resulting in South Africa losing their last six wickets for just 48 runs. It all started with Kapp’s (19) run-out by Alex Blackwell in the 37th over. The skipper Dane Van Niekerk followed in the very next over as she was cleaned up by Jess Jonassen.
Sune Luus and Ayabonga Khaka were dismissed by Elysse Perry off successive deliveries. The tail-enders Shabnim Ismail (26), Masabata Klaas (9) and Moseline Daniels (7*) fought valiantly though. They stretched the South African innings until the last ball of the match off which Ismail was dismissed by Megan Schutt. Australia thus won the match by 59 runs.
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