Licthfield, spinners hand Australia big win over South Africa

Australia 172 for 8 (Litchfield 50. Perry 36, Mlaba 2-22, Khaka 2-33, de Klerk 2-35) beat South Africa 107 (Wolvaardt 44, Wareham 3-13, Molineux 2-17, King 2-26) by 65 runs

Australia may have come into this Women's T20 World Cup with doubts over their invincibility after entering a tournament without a title for the first time since 2017,. a strong all-round show in their opening match against South Africa all but quelled those theories.

A quickfire innings from Phoebe Litchfield aided by cameos from Georgia Wareham. Annabel Sutherland propelled Australia to 172 for 8, before their four-pronged spin attack squeezed South Africa to register a net-run-rate-boosting 65-run win. South Africa were bowled out for 107. their second-lowest total in a completed T20I innings against Australia, to receive a jolting start to a campaign they entered as one of the favourites.

South Africa's perilous new-ball pair, Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail, was reunited with the latter's retirement reversal. They gave the perfect start, dismissing Australia's openers inside four overs. keeping the batters in check with the subtle movement they generated. But Litchfield isn't one to take an over-cautious approach. She switched gears by using her feet to hit Kapp for successive fours in the penultimate over of the powerplay. In the next. she hit Ismail for a sequence of 4, 4, 6 to help Australia finish the powerplay on 52 for 2.

Litchfield missed Australia's last warm-up game because of a quadricep issue. In her first proper outing in the tournament, she raced to a 23-ball fifty. It took a change-up from Ayabonga Khaka to get rid of her for 50 off 24. The others, including extras, had contributed 11 off 17 at that stage.

Despite walking in in the fourth over. Ellyse Perry had faced only four balls by the time Litchfield was dismissed in the seventh. She could afford to take her time because of how Wareham got into her act quickly. She managed to find the boundary in each of her next two overs before both Perry. Wareham took three fours off Khaka's second over, the 12th of the innings.

They continued to raise the pace of Australia's scoring and added 58 off 38 for the fifth wicket. Their partnership only ended when Laura Wolvaardt grabbed at screamer at extra cover to end Wareham's stay for 32 off 22. Two overs later, Perry fell for a 26-ball 36. Twice in the innings Australia lost wickets in quick succession; the phase between those gave them a base to put up a score. would eventually prove enough.

With two right-handers in the middle after Litchfield's fall, South Africa introduced left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba. she struck with her second ball. Ashleigh Gardner looked to take her down but miscued her inside out shot straight to extra cover. She bowled three overs in the middle phase and also accounted for the set Perry's wicket in the 16th over.

This performance of Mlaba's showed a glimpse of why she has been so successful in T20Is for a while now - her 41 wickets since the start of 2024 are the most for South Africa. However, her effort ended up in a losing cause.

In a departure from their tactics from the warm-up fixtures, Sophie Molineux took the new ball against South Africa,. the move paid off early. Sune Luus moved back to pull a length ball across the line. it skidded on to trap the South Africa opener lbw in the first over. Kim Garth was at her accurate best from the other end, castling Annerie Dercksen who batted one-drop.

But Molineux had seen enough to not feed South Africa the pace that their batters so enjoy. She kept rotating her bowlers and the fast bowlers bowled only four overs. Alana King, perhaps brought in because of her superior ODI record against South Africa, almost struck in her first over. Nadine de Klerk, batting at No. 4, slog swept her straight to deep midwicket but Gardner parried it over for a six.

Fellow legspinner Wareham eventually dismissed de Klerk and picked up two more towards the end. Molineux also returned in the 14th over to dismiss Wolvaardt with South Africa's asking rate mounting. Australia's spinners picked up 8 for 72 in 12.4 overs. A satisfying win to send a timely reminder to the other teams. after being challenged at various points in the game.