Women’s ODI World Cup | Mlaba, Brits and Luus star as South Africa outplays New Zealand

South Africa showed that the shellacking at the hands of England was an exception, not the norm, with a dominant six-wicket win against New Zealand in a Women’s World Cup league fixture at the Holkar Stadium here on Monday.

Tazmin Brits (101, 89b, 15×4, 1×6) and Sune Luus (83 n.o., 114b, 10×4, 1×6) carried on unfettered after losing skipper Laura Wolvaardt early in the 232-run chase. After her trademark early shakiness, the only hint of nerves Brits showed was as she neared the ton, pulling out a new ‘archer’ celebration when the job was done.

While Lea Tahuhu managed to hit Brits’ woodwork in the 32nd over and temper the surge to the finish line, Luus calmly helped the side get off the mark in the standings with almost 10 overs to spare. Most importantly, though, the win has done a world of good to South Africa’s Net Run Rate, which has gone from -3.733 to -1.402.

Brits became only the third South African to score an ODI World Cup century after Linda Olivier and Marizanne Kapp. She is also the fastest to seven hundreds in the format (41 innings), bettering Australian legend Meg Lanning’s tally (44).

Earlier, opting to bat, the Kiwis got off to a horrifying start with Kapp removing Suzie Bates – who became the first woman to 350 international caps – off the first ball of the innings.

The low and slow surface helped the Proteas keep the squeeze on, conceding just 38 runs in the PowerPlay, where 49 dots were bowled – the most in an innings in the tournament so far.

After Amelia Kerr succumbed to pressure, the onus of anchoring this White Ferns innings fell on the hardened shoulders of Sophie Devine again.

Meanwhile, Chloe Tryon claimed her 100th international scalp, removing a struggling Georgia Plimmer, which meant an incoming Brooke Halliday was tasked with nursing her side’s sinking scoring rate.

However, once Nonkululeko Mlaba removed Halliday the lower middle-order folded like a pack of cards. Seven wickets fell for just 44 runs, which eventually contributed to the White Ferns suffering a second defeat on the trot.

The scores: New Zealand 231 in 47.5 overs (Sophie Devine 85, Brooke Halliday 45, Nonkululeko Mlaba 4/40) lost to South Africa 234/4 in 40.5 overs (Tazmin Brits 101, Sune Luus 83 n.o.). Toss: New Zealand; PoM: Brits.