A sharp performance from South Africa Women’s pacers, combined with a fifty from opener Trisha Chetty gave the team a 2-1 series win in the fourth and final ODI of the series against Sri Lanka Women in Colombo. Sri Lanka were dismissed for 137 after they were put in to bat and South Africa chased the total down with five wickets in hand, and more than 15 overs to spare.
Sri Lanka were rocked early when medium-pacer Shabnim Ismail took the first two wickets in her consecutive overs, and the hosts were 18 for 3 after losing three wickets for eight runs. Opener Chamari Atapattu resisted with a 71-ball 26 but didn’t get any company from the top and middle order, which managed only 18 runs without her, and the score read 76 for 6 when she became Marizanne Kapp’s first wicket. No. 7 Eshani Lokusuriyage revived the innings by scoring 46, which included two sixes, and finished as the highest run-scorer of the series. The tail also provided a bit of opposition, before they were bowled out for 137. Ismail finished with 2 for 15, including three maidens, from her seven overs and topped the wicket-takers list with 11 in the series. Kapp had figures of 2 for 17 from 6.4 overs.
South Africa got a solid start with four fours in the second over, two each from Chetty and Lizelle Lee. Maduri Samuddika broke the opening stand in the sixth over and also removed debutant Andrie Steyn four overs later. Left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera gave the visitors two more jolts when she dismissed Mignon du Preez and Kapp for low double-digit scores. South Africa were now 90 for 4 in the 21st over. With only 48 runs left, Chetty nearly saw them through with her eighth ODI fifty. In the 35th over, Dane van Niekerk smashed a four and a six within three deliveries to seal the win.