The Guwahati annihilation has now been consigned to the past. The Proteas promised they were “much, much better than 69 all out” and so they proved in Indore on Monday evening.
After everything that could have gone wrong against England did, Laura Wolvaardt’s team bounced back by doing virtually everything right in their comprehensive six-victory with just under 10 overs to spare over New Zealand.
Tazmin Brits (101 off 89 balls, 15×4, 1×6) rediscovered her golden touch with her fourth century in five ODI innings to spearhead the 232-run chase, while Nonkululeko Mlaba bagged 4/40 to trigger a New Zealand collapse of 7/44.
But this victory was not about individuals. This was a test of character that required each and every Protea to lift themselves off the canvas in order to bat better, bowl better and field better than they did a few days ago.
From the moment Marizanne Kapp, who became the most capped Protea in ODI’s surpassing former skipper Mignon du Preez, trapped Suzie Bates, who was playing in her 350th ODI, with the first ball of the match, the Proteas never took a backward step.
There were periods in the New Zealand innings when Sophie Devine (85 off 98 balls) and Brooke Halliday (45 off 37 balls) formed an 86-run partnership, but the Proteas maintained their composure through some brilliant fielding and catching, particularly from captain Wolvaardt who pouched a diving one-handed stunner.
Mlaba was excellent during this period with the left-arm spinner having the white ball on a string throughout her spell. She was justifiably rewarded with the second-best figures of her ODI career.
Brits has adorned this international season with batting of a vintage that will be remembered forever.
Even the loss of her captain Wolvaardt, who was trapped LBW for 14, early on could not deter the world’s joint leading run-scorer in ODI’s this past year.
She did not play an uncertain stroke until an attempted ungainly pull shot after reaching yet another three-figure milestone. The crispness of her driving straight down the ground was a feature to watch.
“Feels great, glad we could pull this one through, definitely needed this after the first game,” Brits said.
“Funny enough, I am not one for records. I am backing myself a bit more. Trying to be as positive as possible. Had a lot of batting camps to expand my range more and not to be one-dimensional.
“Just said wanted to be as positive as possible. Glad I could middle it. Had not used the bat once, looks like that is the one I am going to use now.”
The opener’s 159-run partnership for the second wicket with an equally impressive Sune Luus (83 not out off 114 balls) closed off the match as a contest.
From there on the Proteas switched their attention from winning to how quickly they could achieve it to boost their net run-rate which took a hammering in the crushing England defeat.
They lost a couple of wickets in the process, including Brits, Kapp (14) and Bosch (0), but Luus completed the job to ensure the Proteas’ World Cup campaign was back on the right track again.
ICC World Cup
New Zealand: 231 all out in 47.3 overs (Devine 85, Halliday 45, Mlaba 4/40)
South Africa: 234/4 in 40.5 overs (Brits 101, Luus 83*, A Kerr 2/62)
South Africa won by six wickets
