ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier Day 1 – Top Moments
Asked to field first in a Group A clash of the ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier at the P Sara Oval in Colombo on Tuesday (February 7), Sri Lanka started on a good note as it bowled 82 dot balls in the first 18.1 overs. India was 55 for 1, and needed a push in its innings. That is when Devika Vaidya lofted Eshani Lokusuriyage for a straight boundary and Deepti Sharma followed with another four to the mid-wicket fence.
In the very next over, Vaidya drove Chamari Atapattu and guided one to the third-man boundary for two consecutive fours.
With four fours in eight balls, Vaidya and Deepti upped the rate of their 123-run partnership and gave India the momentum. “Our focus was to rotate the strike and collect boundaries whenever they were available,” Vaidya said of her partnership with Deepti.
India went on to post 259 for 4, and then restricted Sri Lanka to 145 for 8 to win by 114 runs.
It wasn’t the perfect six balls, but Dane van Niekerk’s double-wicket opening over turned things South Africa’s way during its 63-run win over Pakistan.
South Africa’s pacers are its strength. First Shabnim Ismail and Marizanne Kapp had kept up the pressure, before Marcia Letsoalo and Ayabonga Khaka got in on the game to send down 16 overs of pace at NCC against Pakistan. But it took the introduction of spin to get a breakthrough and end the second-wicket stand that had reached 32 by then.
Van Niekerk, the South Africa captain, brought herself on and struck almost immediately with the slower ball, her second delivery sent by Javeria Khan to the waiting hands of Ismail at mid-off. The next was called wide – van Niekerk was targeting a line outside leg, but it wasn't fully working. Nahida Khan, the opener, was in decent touch, and she smashed the fourth legal delivery, a full toss, for a six over deep mid-wicket. The very next ball, however, aiming to go big again, she found herself caught out and rapped on the pads.
“I know the opener plays across her pads a lot,” explained van Niekerk. “I just tried to dart it in at her legs. One slipped and went for a big six. And the next ball, I just felt like, well, now’s the best time, because she feels good. Just get it at her pads. And it came right.”