Anneke Bosch put in an all-round performance to lay the platform for South Africa’s thumping 64-run victory over Zimbabwe in the second T20I of the five-match series at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Bosch hit 12 fours enroute to a scintillating 65 off 31, and then returned to pick two wickets as Zimbabwe folded cheaply in chase.
Bosch led South Africa’s charge with the bat, adding a 64-run stand with Nondumiso Shangase for the second wicket. Her whirlwind effort meant South Africa maintained a scoring rate of 10-an-over until the halfway stage when she was dismissed. Zimbabwe’s hopes of gaining respite through that dismissal were thwarted through the fourth-wicket partnership between Faye Tunnicliffe and Annerie Dercksen worth 88 runs from just 50 balls.
Tunnicliffe finished unbeaten on 52 from just 34 balls – an innings laced with three fours and four sixes. Dercksen made 36* off just 20, with three fours and two sixes. Together they added 67 off the last 30 deliveries to blow the hosts out of the water.
South Africa struck twice in the Powerplay: Eliz-mari Marx cleaned up opener Sharne Mayers in the first over and Nthabiseng Nini had Kelis Ndhlovu caught off her own bowling to reduce Zimbabwe to 32/2 in the sixth over. But it was 20-year-old off-spinner Seshnie Naidu who did the dismantling of the chase with wickets in a heap through the middle. She bowled a double-wicket seventh over to take out Beloved Biza and Loreen Tshuma and then sent opener Nyasha Gwanzura packing in the ninth. Naidu finished with exceptional bowling figures of 3-26.
Zimbabwe meandered for a bit from 51/5 before Bosch struck twice in two overs and pushed the hosts further into the abyss at 84/7. Christine Mutasa and and captain Nomvelo Sibanda batted out the remaining 6.1 overs and added 45 runs in it, but Zimbabwe still fell way short of the target.
Brief Scores: South Africa 193/3 in 20 overs (Anneke Bosch 65, Faye Tunnicliffe 52*; Annerie Dercksen 36*; Michelle Mavunga 1-25) beat Zimbabwe 129/7 in 20 overs (Christine Mutasa 30*; Seshnie Naidu 3-26, Anneke Bosch 2-5) by 64 runs
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