In the second ODI on Thursday in Pietermaritzburg,
South Africa defeated New Zealand by seven wickets and 28 balls thanks in large
part to Laura Wolvaardt’s unbeaten 124. The victory moved the hosts into sole
possession of second place on the Women’s Championship table with 14 points
after eight games and gave them an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI
series.
Amelia Kerr led the way with 88 runs off 110 balls
after Wolvaardt won the toss and elected to put New Zealand in. She contributed
14 to a first-wicket stand with Suzie Bates in which the two of them added 49.
Masabata Klaas made the breakthrough by dismissing Bates, and in her subsequent
over of bowling, the New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine was also dismissed. The
combined second-highest number of bowled dismissals in an ODI innings was seven
overall. In fact, two batsmen were lbw and one was caught and bowled,
accounting for all ten of New Zealand’s wickets, which were all lost without
any outfield help.
Maddy Green, who scored 43 runs off of 50 balls,
helped Amelia, and the duo put up 92 runs in 82 balls for the third wicket.
Green was taken out in the 31st over by left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba,
starting a collapse that saw New Zealand fall from 158 for 2 to 199 for 8. But
to push the team to 253, Hannah Rowe and Lea Tahuhu contributed 54 in 49 balls
for the ninth wicket.
Before Lea Tahuhu had Tazmin Brits caught and bowled
to become the first New Zealand bowler to claim 100 ODI wickets, Wolvaardt and
Brits got the chase started quickly, contributing 29 runs in just 5.2 overs.
When Lara Goodall cheaply fell, South Africa was down
to 43 for two. With their 98-run stand, Wolvaardt and Sune Luus then led the
chase. Wolvaardt took 58 balls to reach her fifty; Luus did the same in 53
balls.
It turned out to be a no-ball even though Devine
appeared to have Wolvaardt caught in the covers for 79. The South Africa
captain took full advantage of the break and scored 117 runs to reach her
fourth ODI hundred and first in a chase.
Her knock was “probably the favourite of my four
hundreds just because it was in a chase,” according to Wolvaardt after the
game.