The Momentum Proteas kept their hopes of a spot in the ICC T20 Women’s Cricket World Cup playoffs alive, after a clinical bowling performance against New Zealand at Boland Park in Paarl last night.

Thank you Paarl 💚 We felt the love 🫶#T20WorldCup #MyHero #AlwaysRising pic.twitter.com/1AK2390qrP

— Proteas Women (@ProteasWomenCSA) February 14, 2023

Proteas got off to a shaky start

Our leading lady, Sune Luus opted to bat first upon winning the toss, but the South Africans found themselves in deep trouble early on in the innings.

The nature of the batting surfaces in the Winelands is notoriously slow. That, mixed with the fact that nearly three-quarters of the Proteas’ dismissals have been to slower bowling, prompted the Kiwi ladies to keep the pace off the bowl. It was a tactic that went exactly to Sophie Devines plans. That was until the experienced Chloe Tryon walked out to the middle.

The 29-year-old, who has 84 WT20I caps to her name, used her experience to keep the Proteas in the game. She identified that New Zealand was going to keep the pace off the ball, and bowl wicket-to-wicket. Tryon kept her nerve, remained calm, and wasn’t going to force the innings.

While she eventually lost her wicket, her 34-ball 40 helped the Proteas to a respectable 132 for 6.

South Africa’s bowling stands out

Nonkululeko Mlaba then set the tone of South Africa’s defence. The second-best bowler on ICC’s T20 rankings removed the South African-born Bernadine Bezuidenhoud with the second delivery of the match.

the wickets continued to tumble. from 0 for 1; to 7 for 2; to 13 for 3; to 18 for 4; to 31 for 5. So the wickets tumbled until the White Ferns were ultimately bowled out for an embarrassing 67.

🚨 RESULT | #MomentumProteas WIN BY 65 RUNS

Nonkululeko Mlaba (3/10) came out firing to set the tone for what was a polished performance in the field to dismiss New Zealand for 67 and secure our first victory of the #T20WorldCup #SAvNZ #MyHero #AlwaysRising pic.twitter.com/0d744vMii4

— Proteas Women (@ProteasWomenCSA) February 13, 2023

Momentum Proteas put in a spectacular performance. A performance that could have been boosted by news from the Women’s Premier League auction held earlier in the day.

South African T20 jet-setters

Four Momentum Proteas will feature in the Women’s Premier League in India in March this year. Included in the acquisitions is Dane van Niekerk, who received the cold shoulder from CSA in the T20 World Cup selection.

Van Niekerk will represent the Royal Challengers Bangalore, while Chloe Tryon will do service for the Mumbai Indians. Both players will receive R649 000 for their talents.

The big winners of the auction are Marizanne Kapp, van Niekerks’s partner, and Protea quick Shabnim Ismail.

Ismail will earn herself a nice R2.17 million to play for Uttar Pradesh, while Kapp bagged R3.26 million from the Delhi Capitals.