South Africa prevail in thriller despite Fatima Sana's best efforts

Fatima Sana battled hard with a 38-ball 55* and a 3-16 but her teammates couldn't quite complement her efforts as Pakistan fell to a two-wicket defeat against South Africa in Birmingham. South Africa's No.3 batter Annerie Dercksen scored a half-century to put her team on course, but the win came only after a stutter that saw the chasing side lose eight wickets.

Pakistan were pushed to the hilt early on as their top-order was ripped through. Marizanne Kapp, who finished as South Africa's best bowler on the night, began the game with the wicket of opener Muneeba Ali on the first ball and struck two more times in quick succession. Four more batters - Gull Feroza, Ayesha Zafar, Natalia Pervaiz and Rameen Shamim - fell for single-digit scores as Pakistan were down to 29/5 inside the Powerplay.

They remained in doldrums in the next phase too, as 29/5 soon became 50/8 in the 11th over. Sana watched helplessly as batters came and went, until Tuba Hassan arrived at No.10 to show a modicum of a fight. She stood tall with her captain until the last over as they put together a 71-run stand off 54 deliveries. Sana got to a half-century but Pakistan still managed just 126/9 in 20 overs - an innings riddled with collapse and chaos, as four batters were run out.

Sana however, hadn't given up yet. She struck in the second over to remove Sune Luus as South Africa made a nervy start, getting to just 20/1 in the first four overs. But Annerie Dercksen used Shamim's over in the fifth as a launch pad for the chase, tonking three fours and a six in a 21-run over. South Africa got out of the Powerplay with 48/1 on the board, and firmly on track in the paltry chase.

Along with Sana, Hassan once again showed there was more grit to this Pakistan side. She arrived in the seventh over to send Laura Woldvaardt packing with her leg-break. But Dercksen carried on regardless, getting to a 32-ball fifty in the 10th over. In the same over though, Nashra Sidhu had Kapp out stumped, while Hassan struck an over later by cleaning up Dercksen.

From 76/4, Nadine de Klerk spearheaded the rest of the chase, while navigating past choppy waters. She had to anchor three short but crucial partnerships as Pakistan tried to make late inroads to put South Africa's chase in disarray. De Klerk first added 17 with Chloe Tyron, who was dismissed by Sadia Iqbal in the 13th over. She then put together 14 with Kayla Reyneke and 18 with Sinalo Jafta to keep the chase afloat amidst Pakistan's resurgence. Sana returned for two big breakthroughs - first to end the 18-run stand by taking out Jafta and then ended de Klerk's fight in the 17th over. But by then, de Klerk had done enough to level the scores. South Africa's win came via a wide that Sana bowled to Ayabonga Khaka.

Brief Scores: Pakistan Women 126/9 in 20 overs (Fatima Sana 55; Marizane Kapp 3-23) lost to South Africa Women 127/8 in 16.5 overs (Annerie Dercksen 52, Nadine de Klerk 37; Fatima Sana 3-16, Tuba Hassan 2-28) by 2 wickets