Persistent rain saw the Momentum Proteas’ second fixture in the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup against New Zealand abandoned without a ball bowled at the County Ground in Derby on Wednesday.
The teams shared the points, taking New Zealand to the top of the tournament log with South Africa coming in second place. Both sides come off victories against Pakistan and Sri Lanka and while New Zealand’s was a convincing, nine-wicket affair thanks to captain, Suzie Bates’ unbeaten 106 in their 189-run chase, South Africa’s was a thriller that ended with no. 9 batter, Shabnim Ismail (22 off 16 balls) winning the match for her team with an over to spare after a middle order collapse.
Proteas captain, Dané van Niekerk felt the frustration of the day, spending it waiting for the team to hear word on whether they will get game time or not, but she is looking forward to her team’s next assignment against the West Indies this Sunday.
She said; “It’s been quite frustrating watching the rain all day, sitting in the changeroom and trying to stay busy but also mentally switched on in case we’re told we can go on, but we’re looking forward to the game against the West Indies. You don’t come to a tournament like this to share points, but then again we have to move on and look forward, we have a lot of games that still need to be played and we have to be ready tomorrow for our training ahead of Sunday’s match.”
Proteas squad:
Dané van Niekerk (capt), Chloe Tryon (vice-captain), Trisha Chetty (wk), Moseline Daniels, Nadine de Klerk), Mignon du Preez, Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Marizanne Kapp, Masabata Klaas, Lizelle Lee, Sune Luus, Raisibe Ntozakhe, Andrie Steyn, Laura Wolvaardt.
SA Match schedule (11:30 UK time)
- SA v ENG-Wednesday 05 July 2017, Country Ground Bristol
- SA v IND-Saturday 08 July 2017, Grace Road Leicester
- SA v SL-Wednesday 12 July 2017, The Cooper Associates Country Ground Taunton
- SA v AUS- Saturday 15 July 2017, The Cooper Associates Country Ground Taunton