No result South Africa women 270 for 6 (Brits 116, Ranasinghe 2-42, Dilhari 2-47) vs Sri Lanka women 23 for no loss

After a delayed start from a wet outfield, Sri Lanka were set a target of 271 but only faced 6.5 overs before rain forced the fixture to be called off. Sri Lanka were 23 without loss at the time.

Brits and Laura Wolvaardt were off to a strong start and put on 94 for the first wicket, largely unthreatened by a Sri Lankan side that chose to bowl first. Brits was the early aggressor, kept the bulk of the strike and allowed Wolvaardt to find her tempo. They posted 55 in the first Powerplay and Sri Lanka looked uninspired, with the ball and in the field.

Brits reached 50 off 56 balls and the partnership grew to 94 when, against the run of play, Wolvaardt was caught behind off Kavisha Dilhari. Anneke Bosch, playing in her 17th match, was in at No.3 and shared in a 70-run second wicket stand with Brits and brought up her third highest ODI score in her 17th match.

Her dismissal brought the struggling Sune Luus to the crease and she scored 22 off 30 balls before being caught and bowled by Sugandika Kumari and sparking a mini-late collapse. South Africa lost 3 wickets for 28 runs, with Chamari Athapaththu creating pressure at one end and the offspinners Kumari and Oshadi Ranasinghe benefitting with wickets at the other. In that time, Brits brought up her 100 off 118 balls, her second this summer after a maiden century against Bangladesh, and was also dismissed which meant she could not finish the innings off.

Before the match, Wolvaardt stressed the need for South Africa to push past totals of 170 into the 200s and Nadine de Klerk, having now embraced her role as a finisher, took that to heart. She scored 34 off 22 balls, including the innings’ only six to push South Africa to 270.

That meant Sri Lanka had to pull off their highest successful ODI chase to win, after a previous best of 257 for 7 against India in 2018. They were steady in pursuit and saw off Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka’s opening spells and did not have the opportunity to test themselves against South Africa’s change bowlers. The second match takes place on Saturday in Kimberley, where conditions are expected to be drier.