South Africa 233 for 3 (Wolvaardt 110*, Kapp 80*) beat Sri Lanka 229 (Athapaththu 51, de Klerk 3-23, Khaka 3-28) by seven wickets
With a resounding 1-0 lead in the three-match series against Sri Lanka, Laura Wolvaardt’s third century since becoming the captaincy—and sixth overall—led South Africa to the most successful chase in women’s ODI history in Kimberley. In her 94th match, Wolvaardt achieved her goal and became South Africa’s top run scorer in ODI cricket.
Importantly, South Africa has maintained their second-place standing in the women’s tournament by securing two more points. Sri Lanka, ranked eighth, is still outside the automatic qualification zone for the 2025 World Cup.
Marizanne Kapp, who reached her third half-century in seven innings, provided assistance for Wolvaardt by combining with her captain for a fourth-wicket stand of 143 runs. Both batsmen were powerful down the ground on a pitch that bounced low at one end, and Sri Lanka’s attack did not pose a significant threat to them.
The afternoon session set the tone, with Sri Lanka scoring just 15 runs in the first overs before Ayabonga Khaka was rewarded early after South Africa’s opening bowlers gave away very little in the opening exchanges. In the sixth over, she got rid of Vishmi Gunaratne for seven. With an opening spell of 5-0-8-0 that included 22 dot balls, Kapp maintained the pressure.
The substitute bowlers were not able to sustain the same hold, particularly when facing Chamari Athapaththu’s depth of expertise. She scored five more boundaries against Eliz-Mari Marx, including four consecutive fours in the 14th over, after hitting the opening ball she faced for four. After Sune Luus lost Hasini Perera at slip, Athapaththu and Perera shared 58 runs for the second wicket until Delmi Tucker caught Perera off the bowling of Nadine de Klerk.
After reaching her 16th ODI half-century off 66 balls, Athapaththu was removed by de Klerk while there were still over 50 balls left in the Sri Lankan innings. After 35 overs, Hansima Karunaratne and Kavisha Dilhari put together 61 off 69 balls for the fourth wicket. Karunaratne hit the lone six of the innings, putting Sri Lanka on course for a target of 250+ on 152 for 3.
After Karunaratne was sacked and Wolvaardt brought Khaka back, Sri Lanka once again faced difficulties. In less than four overs, Nonkululeko Mlaba claimed two wickets in her sixth over, causing Sri Lanka to lose 3 for 20. They were bowled out for 229 with one ball remaining after a seventh-wicket partnership of 41 off 51 between Oshadi Ranasinghe and Nilakshika Silva took them over 200. After setting the record in 2016 when they tracked down 223 against New Zealand, South Africa was left to attempt the most successful pursuit in Kimberley.
Even if since then, South Africa’s scoring rates have climbed, they still had to do so without two of their top hitters. Due to a damaged ligament in her left knee and a meniscus tear, opener Tazmin Brits was unable to continue in the series. It will be a race against time for her to recover from her operation the following week in order to be fit for the T20 World Cup. In addition, Anneke Bosch had to leave the game due to a mild concussion after being struck in the head during Friday’s practice.
Lara Goodall was added to the XI and appeared hesitant upon her return despite not having played an ODI since September. In the sixth over, she went out leg before wicket to a full Achini Kulasuriya delivery. By then, Wolvaardt—who Anushka Sanjeewani dropped on 0—should have been gone from Sri Lanka by now. Driving to her right, the Sri Lankan wicketkeeper attempted a one-handed catch off Wolvaardt’s outside edge but was unable to hold on.
In addition to losing Wolvaardt’s runs, Sri Lanka’s fielding let Luus (who was given a life on an edge and went on to score 21) and Kapp (who was dropped by Athapaththu in her follow through on 25) escape.
Throughout the evening, lightning strikes were seen, and as South Africa’s innings progressed, they grew closer to the match location. After 34.2 overs, the players were removed from the pitch with South Africa leading the DLS by 25 runs at 157. Soon after, they came back to finish the pursuit. With 22 runs needed to win, Wolvaardt reached her century off 133 balls in the 44th over. They arrived with an extra fourteen balls.