South African captain had a strategy to keep Fatima 'quiet'

It should not surprise anyone that Fatima Sana was the only bright spot in an otherwise sombre day for Pakistan as they slumped to their second defeat in two T20 World Cup games. 

Keep Fatima off strike

Their captain Fatima Sana resisted with both the ball and the bat and kept Pakistan in contention for longer than they deserved in an innings where seven batters departed without crossing double figures.

But Fatima leading from the front did not surprise South African captain Laura Woolvardt. Speaking about the Pakistan captain, who scored a quick and resilient 55 off 38 balls to take Pakistan's total to a somewhat acceptable level, Laura said they planned to keep Fatima off strike as long as they could.

"We knew Fatima was still in there, so we thought our best shot was to have her off strike for as long as we could and try to bowl to the other batters. I think we did well to keep her as quiet as we did," Laura said after the game.

The strategy worked as Fatima went inside unbeaten, as all the other batters kept falling around her.

South Africa’s scratchy win

South Africa had their fair share of panic as Pakistan made regular inroads. Annerie Dercksen, however, kept them on the front foot as her knock of 52 off 35 eventually helped them end up as the better team.

"She has played some innings against us where she has whacked us a lot more than today. We probably could have executed a little bit better at death. But she batted pretty well. We were happy to be chasing 120 and to have a batter like Annerie Dercksen at three. Whether it is 11 for one or 111 for one, she tends to take the game on."

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