Chloé Tryon says the Proteas had to beat New Zealand in Paarl on Monday to keep their Women’s T20 World Cup hopes alive.
The all-rounder made 40 as South Africa struggled to 132-6 in their 20 overs and then took 2-12 as New Zealand were bowled out for 67.
The Proteas’ 65-run victory followed a shock three-run defeat to Sri Lanka at Newlands last Friday.
“It was do or die,” said Tryon. “We knew how important this game was.
“We had to go back to the basics. I thought we were 15 or 20 runs short so we had a job to do with the ball. Everyone did superbly tonight.”
Left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba struck twice in the first three overs of New Zealand’s innings and finished with 3-10 in her four overs – her best figures in T20Is.
It was the fourth successive match on the same pitch but New Zealand captain Sophie Devine said her team’s batting performance was simply not good enough.
“To be honest, it’s embarrassing,” said Devine. “We trained hard and put in all the work behind the scenes but to come out and perform like that for two games in a row is not good enough for international cricket.”
Monday’s collapse was even worse than New Zealand’s capitulation to Australia at the same venue on Saturday when they lost by 97 runs after being bowled out for 76.
© Agence France-Presse
