South Africa 141 for 5 (Cap 52, Luce 30, Connell 2-17) beat West Indies 97/8 (Mathews 23, Claes 4-21, Mlaba 1-10) by 44 runs
Kapp gives lift to South Africa
Spin-heavy West Indies restricted South Africa to a competitive total on a slow and sluggish surface at Buffalo Park. After being asked to bowl first, Shamilia Connell dismissed Anneke Bosch early in the fourth over when she was caught by Brittany Cooper while trying to hit the ball over mid-off fielder. They ended the powerplay at 43 for 1, with Laura Wolvaardt playing a steady knock and pulling off her trademark cover drive.
However, the opener was dismissed for 25 in the ninth over by Shamika Gajanbi when Wolvaardt tried to hit a full ball on the off stump and was caught by the wicketkeeper. He lost his wicket due to lack of footwork.
It was Sune Luus and Kapp who lifted South Africa, as Kapp moved to No.3 once again. After scoring 58 runs for two wickets in the ninth over, both together made an important partnership of 63 runs in 53 balls for the third wicket. Although the surface suited the slower bowlers, aided by turn and uneven bounce, Kapp played a cautious but crucial innings to guide the team to an above-par total.
The seam-bowling all-rounder brought up his team’s century in the 16th over when he hit Gajnabi for a straight boundary, scoring between six and seven during his innings. In his 43-ball 52 – his second half-century in the format – Kapp hit four fours, converted low full toss and half volleys, and kept the scorecards ticking.
His partner Lewis scored 30 runs in 26 balls with the help of three fours. Hayley Matthews’s 18th over saw both set batsmen back in the dugout: Luus was run out, while Kapp was caught at long off as he tried to increase the scoring rate.
West Indies used seven bowlers on Saturday but it ultimately did not prove enough to end their T20I losing streak since October last year.
class act of south africa
The scoring has never looked smooth in East London, especially for the West Indies, who had lost eight of their last nine T20Is. Their star all-rounder Stafanie Taylor had to miss out, which didn’t help their cause either. Taylor is still working on getting back to full fitness after recovering from an injury sustained while batting during the ODI series against New Zealand in September last year.
West Indies made six changes to the XI they played against England in their last T20I in December, with Mathews still trying to find a partner to open the batting. If Aaliyah Alleyne had opened the batting for the home series against England, she tried out Brittany Cooper on Saturday. But Cooper died trying to clear the mid-off fielder and became the first victim of the class.
They never looked comfortable in the chase, as West Indies fell from 32 for 0 to 67 for 6. Three of those six wickets went to Klass, who was on a hat-trick in the tenth over when he dismissed Mathews and Gajnabi in consecutive deliveries. , While Mathews tried to slice and was caught at backward point, Ghazanbi was lbw.
Mathews tried to hold the fort, scoring 23 runs in 35 balls before being dismissed. Cooper, Shamilia Connell and Shemaine Campbell got to double figures but the target was well out of reach.
Klass, who came back to complete his quota in the 19th over, removed Affi Fletcher with a toe-crushing yorker to take a career-best 4 for 21.
Srinidhi Ramanujam is the Deputy Editor of ESPNcricinfo
