South Africa have the FINAL laugh

THE WINNING FEELING: Mana Ibrahim al-Mana, chairman of West End Park, poses with South African players after the prize distribution ceremony at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium yesterday. Inset: South African ambassador to Qatar, Saad Cachalia, hands over the Player-of-the-Series award to Pakistan’s Javeria Wadood yesterday. PICTURES: Shaji

By Satya Rath/Doha

The moment Mignon du Preez called correctly, in the title clash of the inaugural Qatar International Women’s Tri-Series yesterday, she didn’t even think twice before sending Pakistan in. Having played four matches at the West End Park cricket stadium coming into the final, she knew what she was doing.

Her bowlers proved her right, bowling out Pakistan for a paltry 94 in 46.3 overs. Then her batters, despite some early and mid-innings wobble, overtook the target with minimal fuss, with four wickets to spare.

The low-scoring match saw 16 wickets fall for 189 runs but the South Africans had enough contributions down the order to get home with 39 balls to spare.

After being sent in, crowd favourites Pakistan were cantering along nicely at 56-2 after 20 overs at one stage before collapsing in a heap. The last seven batswomen could add just 38 runs to the total between them.

In fact, their last six wickets fell for just 18 runs. And more than good bowling, they had bad shot selection to blame for their plight, much to the disappointment of the 2,000-odd crowd, who kept cheering for them till the end despite the setback.

Opener Javeria Wadood, later adjudged player-of-the-series, top-scored for the ‘home’ team, with a steady 64-ball 30 laced with two boundaries, but her dismissal triggered a collapse from which her team could never recover. Only two others managed to reach double figures – Bismah Maroof (14) and Nida Dar (11) – before throwing their wickets away.

For South Africa, seamer Shabnim Ismail scalped three wickets, while Sunette Loubser and Moseline Daniels snared two each.

The South African chase had a rocky start when they lost two early wickets – opening bowlers Sumaiya Siddiqi and Nida Dar doing the initial damage – with just 14 runs on board. Another mini collapse 23 runs later saw them reduced to 38 for 4.

It was then left to player-of-the-match Loubser, who struck an unbeaten 25, to see them home. Despite the fall of two more wickets, she found an able ally in Shandre Fritz (19). Their 31-run sixth-wicket stand proved enough in the end. It was Pakistan’s second loss to South Africa in three days.

“Having batted second here before, I knew the outfield tends to get a bit faster in the evenings. I am happy we managed to contain them to a low total. It was a great team effort. Now we will try win the Twenty20 title as well,” South African skipper du Preez said after receiving the winning trophy from Mana Ibrahim al-Mana, chairman of West End Park.

Her Pakistan counterpart Sana Mir, while congratulating du Preez, felt bad batting coupled with sloppy fielding cost them the match.

“I think we fell around 30 runs short. We had a good start and we should have capitalised on that. We had our chances but our fielding was not up to mark today. We missed some easy catches too. But all credit to the South African team. They played really well,” Mir, Pakistan’s most successful woman cricketer, said.

She also congratulated Javeria for being adjudged the player-of-the-series. “I am happy that someone from my team was adjudged the player-of-the-series. She’s our in-form player and has been in great touch in this series.”

The same teams – Ireland being the third side – next contest a Twenty20 tri-series, with the first match scheduled for tomorrow.

Brief scores

Pakistan: 94 all out in 46.3 overs (Javeria Wadood 30, Bismah Maroof 14; M Daniels 2/13, S Ismail 3/25, S Loubser 2/19) lost to South Africa: 95-6 in 43.3 overs (S Loubser 25 n.o, SA Fritz 19, M Kapp 15; Sumaiya Siddiqi 2/14, Nida Dar 2/19, Sana Mir 1/14) by 4 wickets (with 39 balls remaining)

Player of the match: Sunette Loubser (South Africa)

Player of the series: Javeria Wadood (Pakistan)