COLOMBO: South Africa and India opened their campaigns in style at the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier which commenced in Colombo on Tuesday.

Chloe Tryon smashed a brisk 79 as South Africa scored a 63-run victory over Pakistan in the Group ‘B’ match at the NCC Ground, while Devika Vaidya top-scored with 89 to help India defeat Sri Lanka by 114 runs in the Group ‘A’ fixture at the P. Sara Oval.

In other matches, Ireland beat Zimbabwe by 119 runs and Bangladesh won by 118 runs against Papua New Guinea as teams embarked on their bids to qualify for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 and the ICC Women’s Championship.

The 10-team tournament, which runs till 21 February, also offers ODI status for the next four years to all teams that make the Super Six stage.

Tryon smashed five fours and four sixes in a 75-ball knock to pull South Africa up from 118-5 in the 24th over. Mignon du Preez (40) was the second-highest scorer for the team while Pakistan’s 19-year-old left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu grabbed 3-51 including Tryon’s wicket.

In reply, Pakistan could only muster 195-6 with Nain Abidi (62), skipper Sana Mir (38 not out) and Nahida Khan (35) the main scorers.

A disappointed Sana later said: “Our team has gone through a major transformation and the young players have done well. I am overall happy with the way the team is shaping up. It was a match where we started off really well, but an excellent innings by Tryon saw South Africa through.”

India, electing to bat on a good batting pitch, started slowly before the left-handed pair of Vaidya and opener Deepti Sharma (54) took control and put their side on the road to a big total.

The two 19-year-olds added 123 for the second wicket with player-of-the-match Vaidya hitting 11 fours off 103 balls in only her second ODI and Sharma smashing four fours and one six off 96 balls. Captain Mithali Raj then played herself in and knocked up an unbeaten 70 off 62 deliveries for her 41st ODI fifty.

Sri Lanka could only score 145-8 in reply.

In the other Group ‘B’ match, opener Harmin Akhter (56) and Fargana Hoque (51) helped Bangladesh score 215-6 after which they bowled out Papua New Guinea for 97 in only 32.1 overs.

Ireland defeated Zimbabwe easily in Group ‘A’ as all-rounder Kim Garth, who turned out for Sydney Sixes in this year’s Women’s Big Bash League, put in an all-round performance of 63 and 3-24.

Ireland scored 237-6 after which they dismissed Zimbabwe for 118 in 37.5 overs.

Results of other matches:

At P. Sara Oval: India beat Sri Lanka by 114 runs.

INDIA 259-4 in 50 overs (D.P. Vaidya 89, M. Raj 70 not out, D.B. Sharma 54’ K.D.U. Prabodhani 2-56); SRI LANKA 145-8 in 50 overs (G.W.H.M. Perera 34, C. Athapaththu 30; R.S. Gayaywad 2-19, E. Bisht 2-27).

At CCC Ground: Bangladesh beat Papua New Guinea by 118 runs.

BANGLADESH 215-6 in 50 overs (Harmin Akhter 56, Fargana Hoque 51; R. Oa 2-23, S. Jimmy 2-32, M. Tom 2-35); PAPUA NEW GUINEA 97 in 32.1 overs (P. Siaka 32; Rumana Ahmed 2-13, Salma Khatun 2-14, Panna Ghosh 2-20, Jahanara Alam 2-27).

At Mercantile Cricket Association Ground: Ireland beat Zimbabwe by 119 runs.

IRELAND 237-6 in 50 overs (K.J. Garth 63, L. Delany 47, C.M.A. Shillington 30; J. Nkomo 2-46, N. Mutasa 2-53); ZIMBABWE 118 in 37.5 overs (A. Ndiraya 35; K.J. Garth 3-24, C.J. Metcalfe 3-38, A.J. Kenealy 2-19).

Wednesday’s fixtures (matches start at 9:30am PST):

Pakistan vs Bangladesh (P. Sara Oval), Sri Lanka vs Ireland (NCC Ground), India vs Thailand (CCC Ground), South Africa vs Scotland (MCA Ground).

Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA:

L. Lee c Nain b Aliya 18 L. Wolvaardt st Rabiya b Fatima 20 M. du Preez c Sana b Javeria 40 T. Chetty b Nashra 0 M. Kapp b Javeria 38 C.L. Tryon c Nahida b Nashra 79 D. van Niekerk c Nahida b Nashra 30 S. Luus not out 12 S. Ismail run out 11 A. Khaka run out 1

EXTRAS (B-1, W-7, NB-1) 9

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 258

FALL OF WKTS: 1-29, 2-63, 3-64, 4-118, 5-129, 6-218, 7-237, 8-255, 9-258.

DID NOT BAT: M.M. Letsoalo.

BOWLING: Aliya Riaz 6-1-33-1 (1nb); Maham Tariq 3-0-20-0 (1w); Sana Mir 10-1-36-0; Nashra Sandhu 10-0-51-3 (2w); Ghulam Fatima 9-1-53-1 (2w); Javeria Khan 10-0-45-2 (1w); Bismah Maroof 2-0-19-0 (1w).

PAKISTAN:

Ayesha Zafar c Chetty b Khaka 19 Nahida Khan lbw b van Niekerk 35 Javeria Khan c Ismail b van Niekerk 8 Bismah Maroof run out 4 Nain Abidi c van Niekerk b Kapp 62 Aliya Riaz c Khaka b Letsoalo 6 Sana Mir not out 38 Rabiya Shah not out 9

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-7, W-4, NB-1) 14

TOTAL (for six wkts, 50 overs) 195

FALL OF WKTS: 1-26, 2-58, 3-66, 4-83, 5-110, 6-180.

DID NOT BAT: Maham Tariq, Nashra Sandhu, Ghulam Fatima.

BOWLING: Ismail 7-0-34-0; Kapp 8-1-24-1 (1w); Khaka 9-1-39-1 (1w); Letsoalo 9-2-22-1 (1w); van Niekerk 7-0-35-2 (1nb, 1w); Luus 10-1-32-0.

RESULT: South Africa won by 63 runs.

UMPIRES: K. Cross (New Zealand) and R.R. Wimalasiri (Sri Lanka).

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Chloe Tryon.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2017