The SA team climbed to second place in the first-round standings with eight points.
South Africa put one foot in the Women’s Cricket World Cup semifinals on Friday night, beating co-hosts Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in a rain-disrupted clash in Colombo to pick up their fourth successive victory of the tournament.
With the weather halting play for a lengthy period in the first innings after Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat, the game was reduced to 20 overs a side.
After returning to the field following the enforced break, the Proteas bowlers did well to keep the Sri Lankans under pressure.
Led by spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba (3/30) and seamer Masabata Klaas (2/18), they restricted their opposition to 105/7.
Proteas innings
In response, South Africa coasted to a comprehensive win on the DLS method.
Chasing a target of 121 runs, opening batters Laura Wolvaardt (60 not out off 47) and Tazmin Brits (55 not out off 42) shared an unbroken 125-run stand for the first wicket, carrying their team to victory with more than five overs to spare.
With the win, the SA women rose to second place in the first-round standings with eight points, just one point behind log leaders Australia.
Frustrated but relieved
“We’re very relieved we got a game in the end,” said Proteas captain Wolvaardt, who was named Player of the Match.
“It was frustrating sitting out for four or five hours (during the rain delay) but we’re happy with the two points.
“We just treated it as a normal T20 game and wanted to get ahead of the game as soon as we could and not leave it late.”
