By Razeen Gutta
Phoebe Litchfield’s rapid half-century and a four-pronged Australian spin attack condemned the Proteas women to a heavy 65-run defeat in Saturday’s T20 World Cup Group 1 opener at Old Trafford.
Batting first, Australia stumbled early with Beth Mooney and Georgia Voll gone inside three overs.
Litchfield turned the game, blasting 50 off 24 balls with nine fours and a six.
She combined with Ellyse Perry, 36, in a vital 37-run stand before Georgia Wareham’s 22-ball 32 and Annabel Sutherland’s cameo pushed the six-time champions to 172-8.
South Africa’s reply was strangled by spin. Wareham, Sophie Molineux, Alana King and Ashleigh Gardner shared eight wickets as the Proteas were bundled out for 107 in 16.4 overs.
Laura Wolvaardt fought with 44 off 39 balls and Nadine de Klerk got to 25, but the rest offered little.
“Restricting them to 172 was not too bad, but we lost our way with the bat,” Wolvaardt admitted to reporters post-match.
Player of the match Wareham finished with 3-13 and a stunning catch to remove Wolvaardt.
Sunday saw India dominate Pakistan by 64 runs at Edgbaston.
Smriti Mandhana’s 68 set up 170-6 before Deepti Sharma’s 5-10 routed Pakistan.
Bangladesh also opened with a six-wicket win over the Netherlands.
Australia face Bangladesh next while South Africa must regroup quickly, with Pakistan and India next up on their radar.
Pictured above: South Africa vs Australia
Source: @proteaswomencsa
