Rumana Ahmed of Bangladesh plays a reverse sweep, as Faye Tunnicliffe of South Africa looks on during the ICC Women's World T20 2018 match between South Africa and Bangladesh at Darren Sammy Cricket Ground on November 18, 2018.

South Africa beat Bangladesh, finish third

Rumana Ahmed of Bangladesh plays a reverse sweep, as Faye Tunnicliffe of South Africa looks on during the ICC Women's World T20 2018 match between South Africa and Bangladesh at Darren Sammy Cricket Ground on November 18, 2018.
  • Both sides disappoint with bat, Khatun takes 50th T20I wicket in three-wicket haul

South Africa showed more signs of the batting blues that have plagued them in this tournament, but still came away with a win against Bangladesh to finish third in Group A. In the last Group game of the ICC Women’s World T20, they registered a 30 win against the Asia Cup winners.

Bangladesh finished winless from all their games, and must now qualify for the next edition of the tournament through the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifiers.

South Africa started brightly with the bat after being put in, with Lizelle Lee showing the kind of intent that had been expected of her in previous games. She rushed to 21 (13b, 3x4), before she was run out on her own call in the fourth over. That brought Marizanne Kapp to the crease, and she scored boundaries in the next to overs to help South Africa to 48 for one in their Powerplay.

No boundaries came in the next three overs though, and Bangladesh’s spinners settled into their lines. The pressure sparked a collapse: three wickets fell to three different bowlers in the next four overs, including those of Kapp (25, 19b, 3x4) and Dane van Neikerk (17, 30b), who had returned to the top of the order.

Chloe Tryon and Mignon du Preez then added 26 runs, before another more critical collapse. Bangladesh captain Salma Khatun took three wickets -the third giving her her 50th wicket in the format- to precipitate a slide of 5 for 14, and South Africa finished with another below par total, 109 for 9.

Bangladesh could have escaped qualification if they had beaten South Africa with a big enough margin to also pip them on Net Run-Rate, but made no attempt to go down that path. Their Powerplay score of 13 for one was only one run better than the lowest score in this tournament, also set by them.

Even without Shabnim Ismail, who missed the game due to a hamstring injury, South Africa’s attack kept the lid on the scoring (Bangladesh’s first boundary came only in the 8th over) although they took only three wickets in the first 15 overs. Rumana Ahmed top scored with an unbeaten 34, as Bangladesh finished on 79 for 5.

Scores in brief:

South Africa defeated Bangladesh by 30 runs at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, Saint Lucia

South Africa: 109-9, 20 overs (Marizanne Kapp 25; Salma Khatun 3-20, Khadija Tul Kubra 2-18)
Bangladesh: 79 for 5 in 20 overs (Rumana Ahmed 34 not out)