South Africa 233 for 3 (Wolvaardt 110*, Kapp 80*) beat Sri Lanka 229 (Athapaththu 51, de Klerk 3-23, Khaka 3-28) by seven wickets
Crucially, South Africa have secured two more points on the women’s championship to solidify their spot in second place. Sri Lanka remain outside the automatic qualification zone for the 2025 World Cup, in eighth spot.
Athapaththu went on to bring up her 16th ODI half-century off 66 balls but was also dismissed by de Klerk, with more than half the Sri Lankan innings remaining. Hansima Karunaratne and Kavisha Dilhari combined for 61 off 69 balls for the fourth wicket, and Karunaratne hit the only six of the innnings, and Sri Lanka were on track for 250-plus on 152 for 3 after 35 overs.
Though scoring rates have increased since then, South Africa had to do it without two of the frontline batters. Opener Tazmin Brits was ruled out of the series with a meniscus tear and sprained ligament on her left knee. She will undergo surgery next week and will be in a race against time to regain fitness ahead of the T20 World Cup. And Anneke Bosch was also forced out of the encounter with a mild concussion after being hit on the head at Friday’s training.
Lara Goodall, who has not played an ODI since September was brought into the XI and looked tentative on her return. She was out lbw to a full Achini Kulasuriya ball in the seventh over. By then, Sri Lanka should have long been rid of Wolvaardt, who was dropped on 0 by Anushka Sanjeewani. The Sri Lankan wicket-keeper who went for the catch off Wolvaardt’s outside edge one-handed while driving to her right and could not hold on.
Sri Lanka’s fielding not only cost them Wolvaardt’s runs but they also allowed Luus – given a life on 11 off a top-edge and went on to score 21 – and Kapp – dropped by Athapaththu in her follow through on 25 – to get away.
Lightning strikes were visible throughout the evening and got closer to the match venue as South Africa’s innings went on. The players were taken off the field after 34.2 overs, with the score at 157 for, with South Africa 25 runs ahead of the DLS. They returned soon afterwards to complete the chase. Wolvaardt brought up her century off 133 balls in the 44th over, with South Africa needing 22 runs to win. They got there with 14 balls to spare.