Wolvaardt, Brits help SA cruise to easy win in rain-marred contest

Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits stroked breezy half-centuries as South Africa comfortably chased down 121 - the revised total - in the rain-marred 20-over-a-side contest to register their fourth successive win in the ongoing Women's World Cup, in Colombo.

Vishmi Gunaratne made a good start to Sri Lanka's innings, stroking a couple of boundaries before getting hit in the fifth over by a throw from the fielder which hurt her left knee and she had to be carried off the field. After a slow start, Masataba Klaas provided two breakthroughs - sending back Chamari Athapaththu and Hasini Perera.

At the end of the 12th over, Sri Lanka were reduced to 46 for 2 when showers ensured a long break. It took nearly five hours for play to resume, allowing both teams only 20 overs to bat. Kavisha Dilhari took little time after the break to make Sri Lanka's intentions clear. She pulled Nonkululeko Mlaba's half-tracker for a six off the first ball after play resumed.

South Africa struck in successive overs, but Vishmi returned to bat and did the bulk of the scoring in the remaining overs in the company of Nilakshi de Silva. After edging Mlaba for a boundary, she swept the spinner for another four in the 18th over. Even as the left-arm spinner was proving expensive, the South African skipper stuck with her for the final over, in which she scalped two wickets - apart from Anushka Sanjeewani's run out - and conceded only four runs to restrict Sri Lanka to 105 for 7.

The South African openers were cautious in the opening over, but built up the innings superbly. They worked the ball around in gaps, rotated the strike and kept finding boundaries at regular intervals. They were no panic in the run chase, and all hopes of Sri Lanka making a comeback into the contest were dashed in the 13th over when Wolvaardt and Brits stroked Kavisha Dilhari for two boundaries each.

Wolvaardt pulled Athapaththu's short delivery for a boundary in the next over to bring up South Africa's 100, before Brits pummelled Piumi Badalge for a boundary and a six to seal the chase. It was the seventh century stand for the duo in ODIs, and South Africa's sixth 10-wicket win in Women's ODIs.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 105/7 in 20 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 34, Nilakshi de Silva 18; Nonkululeko Mlaba 3-30) lost to South Africa 125 for no loss in 14.5 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 60*, Tazmin Brits 55*) by 10 wickets