Review | CWC 22 | M#2 - BAN v RSA
Written By: Jeet Vachharajani & All Over Cricket
Date: 05-03-2022
Picture Courtesy: ICC
Lee & Wolvaardt and who?
South Africa has had a very established opening pair in Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt. But, in the absence of Lee as an opener, it has been tough going for the replacement to live up to the expectations. This issue has been further accentuated by the fact that the batter coming in at #3 also hasn’t been able to provide stability or nail the role that is expected of her.
Tazmin Brits has been struggling, Lara Goodall is having a hard time, and this has been an issue with every replacement in the opening slot or the batter at #3. Wolvaardt and Lee, both have scores 1500+ runs at a very impressive average, but there’s no one who has played a supporting role.
Trisna leads the attack
In 19-year-old left-arm pacer Fariha Trisna, Bangladesh may have unearthed a player for the future.
The teenager was on the mark from her very first over, finding movement back into a struggling Tazmin Brits. She should have had Brits caught at mid-on but the fielder juggled it before Brits survived another tight LBW shout to close out Trisna’s over. The left-armer continued bowling to her leg-side heavy field, depriving the struggling South African of the room to free her arms, eventually getting her caught at mid-wicket by Rumana Ahmed.
Lara Goodall, who laboured to 12 off 43 deliveries, was similarly unsure about which way Trisna would be taking the ball. This stopped her from getting into good positions. On more than one occasion, she tried to muscle the ball away, only managing a thick inside edge.
Salma Khatun, accurate as ever with her off-spinners, built on the pressure that Trisna and Jahanara Alam had established with the new ball.
In an attempt to boost the run rate, Laura Wolvaardt tried to play her iconic cover drive off a Ritu Moni delivery that wasn’t full enough. Moni, with snakelike movement, was able to thread the gap between bat and pad, producing the ball of the tournament to dismiss Wolvaardt.
Unsurprisingly, Trisna finally got her LBW when she trapped Trisha Chetty plumb in front in the 46th over to contribute toward a late-order collapse that restricted South Africa to a manageable 207.
Bangladesh’s opening partnership
Since the last World Cup, Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail have taken 28 and 18 wickets in the Powerplay, which puts them in the top four in that period globally.
If Bangladesh had any hopes of acing their chase, openers Sharmin Akhter and Shamima Sultana had to survive a dangerous opening burst. While they did their best to minimize risks, they also rode their luck.
63% of Akhter and Sultana’s runs in the first 10 overs were scored behind square on the off-side — an indication that the pace of Shabnim Ismail challenged them. Yet, they deserve credit for weathering the storm and not straying from their theoretically simple game plan.
When South Africa’s change bowlers were introduced, they began to find their scoring areas, picking up two boundaries in the 17th over bowled by Sune Luus to propel Bangladesh to 59/0.
Sadly, once their partnership was broken, it opened the floodgates. Left-handed Murshida Khatun walked in to bat at four in an apparent attempt to exploit the matchup with left-arm spinner Chloe Tryon. Sadly, she was dismissed for a duck by Ayabonga Khaka. Bangladesh started to run out of wickets and balls, and in spite of a spirited fight from Ritu Moni and Nigar Sultana, their chase never recovered.
Underrated Khaka
Make no mistake: Ayabonga Khaka was the difference between the two sides today. You could even say that she bailed the South Africans out of jail with a 4-wicket haul that ensured she was the second-fastest to reach 100 ODI wickets for South Africa.
She conceded just one run in her first three overs, yet was surprisingly taken out of the attack. She returned in the 20th over to dismiss Sultana with a full inswinger, before getting one to bounce on Sharmin Akhter and catch her edge for another wicket. She accounted for four of Bangladesh’s top five batters and showed why she is possibly the single most underrated seamer in world cricket.