Laura Wolvaardt credits Kapp, Tryon and de Klerk for South Africa’s thrilling win over Bangladesh

South Africa's captain Laura Wolvaardt credited her team’s resilience in a thrilling World Cup victory over Bangladesh. Marizanne Kapp, Chloe Tryon, and Nadine de Klerk played key roles in chasing down Bangladesh's 232/6 with three balls to spare

Visakhapatnam: South Africa’s captain, Laura Wolvaardt, gave credit to her players for hanging in there despite mounting pressure from Bangladesh, hailing the efforts of Marizanne Kapp, Chloe Tryon, and Nadine de Klerk for their crucial contributions in securing a thrilling victory in a key Women’s World Cup match in Visakhapatnam on Monday.

Kapp struck a patient 56, forming a crucial partnership with Tryon (62), while de Klerk slammed a four and six in three balls to seal the win with three balls to spare.

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South Africa successfully chased down Bangladesh’s total of 232/6, reaching 235/7 in 49.3 overs. Bangladesh’s score was built on a patient half-century from Sharmin Akhter (50 off 77 balls) and the fastest-ever ODI fifty by a Bangladeshi player, Shorna Akter (51 off 35 balls). The Bangladesh bowlers applied significant pressure, reducing South Africa to 78/5, but Kapp, Tryon, and de Klerk’s resilient efforts guided South Africa to a thrilling victory.

In the post-match presentation, Wolvaardt said, “Nerves are shot, that was a lot closer than we wanted, but I’m glad we got the points. Kappy and Chloe were amazing. Not the start that we wanted. We tried to be watchful, build partnerships, but we lost wickets. At least we’re getting over the line. There have been times we’ve lost these games, and our middle order scoring runs is good to know.”

Wolvaardt also acknowledged her bowlers’ frustrations in not getting early wickets against a disciplined Bangladesh side. However, she was pleased with their resilience. “Tried to stay patient, thought slower balls were working well, bowl for the stumps. Frustrating not to get wickets early, but they applied themselves well, and Shorna was amazing at the end,” she added.

Although Bangladesh lost a nerve-wracking encounter, leaving the players in tears, captain Nigar Sultana Joty was proud of the fight they put up. She mentioned that Bangladesh was probably 10-15 runs short of a defendable total.

“I’m really proud of the way we fought till the last ball. The girls are so young. We fight for every run; we’re very emotional, so it was a great learning curve. We’ve lost early wickets in the power-play before, so we wanted a partnership. Maybe we were still 10-15 runs short,” said Joty.

Joty had high praise for young batter Shorna Akter, whose brilliant knock helped Bangladesh score 82 runs in the final 10 overs after being at 150 in 40 overs. “I’ve been talking about her for a long time. The way she batted was a show we were really enjoying, and showed how we should bat,” said Joty.

Reflecting on the team’s performance, the Bangladesh captain added, “We talked about putting it on the right length, maybe we fell short, but we showed good spirit. My team was very young, but we kept going.”

Despite the loss and their third consecutive defeat, Joty emphasized the importance of staying proud of the team’s efforts. “Be proud of how we have done, and we have three more games left. The way we played, we gave them a tough time in the middle,” she concluded.