Proteas skipper stars in Sri Lanka women’s first loss in South Africa

South Africa women’s captain, Dané van Niekerk took three wickets and scored an unbeaten 71 runs to lead her side to an emphatic, seven-wicket victory in the opening fixture of their three-match series against Sri Lanka at PPC Newlands on Friday.

The skipper’s spell of 3/12 in four overs along with Masabata Klaas’ 2/22 helped restrict the opposition to 90/8 at the end of their innings after Chamari Attapaththu won the toss and elected to bat first. Hasini Perera and Imalka Mendis were the only pair who reached double figures, top scoring with 27 and 25 runs respectively.

Van Niekerk took the spotlight again in South Africa’s reply, making even more of a case for herself as an opening batter. She smashed 13 fours in her 55-ball knock as the hosts cantered to victory with 34 balls to spare.

The second match will take place at the Bidvest Wanderers this Sunday, 03 February. Play starts at 09:45 (SAST) with the build-up on SuperSport 2 starting at 09:30.

Courtesy : srilankasports.com