Ayabonga Khaka Leads Proteas Women to Victory in World Cup, Takes 4 Wickets As South Africa Beat Bangladesh

• The Proteas Women beat Bangladesh by 32 runs in their opening game of the Women's Cricket World Cup
• Ayabonga Khaka took 4 wickets and reached the milestone of taking 100 wickets in one-day internationals
• The South African Women's cricket team will next face Pakistan after beating Bangladesh in their opening game

The South African Women’s cricket team have got their World Cup campaign underway with a win over Bangladesh.

The Proteas Women beat Bangladesh by 32 runs thanks to impressive performances by Marizanne Kapp (42), Laura Wolvaardt (41) and Ayabonga Khaka’s four-wicket haul.

Khaka finished with figures of 4/32, her fourth wicket was also her 100th wicket in one-day internationals (ODI), IOL reported.

Earlier in the day Kapp and Wolvaardt scored big but could not press on as South Africa Women only managed to score 207 before they were bowled all out. Chloe Tryon’s 39 towards the end of the innings was also vitally important as she and Kapp put on a 71-run stand, Sport24 noted.

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Rugby

Chasing a very modest total, Bangladesh started well and looked threatening thanks to openers, Shamima Sultana and Sharmin Akhter. The pair put on a 69-run partnership before Khaka worked her magic. Khaka dismissed both openers in quick succession, and at one stage had figures of 4/9.

Bangladesh did fight back towards the end and needed 43 runs from five overs, but they bowled out not long after.

South Africa picked up the two points and now meet Pakistan in their next game on Friday, 11 March.

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Cricket

South African supporters will throw their weight behind their team fully, as they look to become the first senior team among the women and men to win a world championship. They will have to do so without captain and ace batsman Dane van Niekerk, who has been recuperating from injury.

The Proteas lost two warm-up matches against India and England respectively, though not much can be read into these results. They go into the tournament as one of the lesser favourites, with Australia the out-rights, followed by the English.