Lee, du Preez star in SA wins

South Africa Women 102 for 1 (Lee 53) beat Ireland Women 101 for 7 (Joyce 47, Shillington 25) by nine wickets
Scorecard

Lizelle Lee's second consecutive fifty helped South Africa Women storm to a nine-wicket win over Ireland Women. Chasing 102, Lee smashed 53 off 52 balls to help South Africa finish the game with more than five overs to spare. The win confirmed South Africa and Pakistan as the finalists of the competition.

A combined bowling performance kept Ireland to a below-par score. A more competitive score looked promising when Clare Shillington and Isobel Joyce came together to add 53 for the second wicket at more than seven an over.

However, Shillington's run out for 25 changed the complexion of the innings as Ireland lost three quick wickets for nine runs. Joyce kept running out of partners before she fell in the 19th over for 47. Joyce and Shillington were the only two batsmen to pass double figures. Five bowlers took a wicket apiece.

An aggressive opening stand of 83 in 11.5 overs between Lee and Trisha Chetty put South Africa on course for a big win. Lee followed up her fifty in the previous game, also against Ireland, with another one. She fell for 53, caught off Amy Kenealy with her team 19 short of the target.

The early finish gave the South Africans a bit more time before their second game of the evening, against Pakistan.

"It was a great game played by the team," South Africa captain Mignon du Preez said. "Today we executed our game plans well and, even when things went slightly off course, we were able to bring it back really well. That's one out of two, now we look towards Pakistan later this evening."

South Africa Women 97 for 3 (Du Preez 38) beat Pakistan Women 96 (Nahida 33, Daniels 3-17) by seven wickets
Scorecard

South Africa Women reiterated their dominance on the day by completing a comfortable win against Pakistan Women in what was a dress-rehearsal of the final.

Choosing to bowl on winning the toss for the second time on the day, South Africa made early inroads into the Pakistan batting line-up. Moseline Daniels struck in the first over to remove opener Marina Iqbal and Pakistan's boat was further rocked as they lost their Player of the Match in their previous outing, Nain Abidi, in the second over. Nida Dar hit the only six of the match, but she could only add 17 before being dismissed. 18-year-old legspinner Sune Luus then tightened South Africa's grip with a couple of strikes in a stifling spell. Pakistan's only resistance came through Nahida Khan, who scored 33, and that lifted them to their eventual score of 96.

But the total didn't challenge South Africa. Despite losing Trisha Chetty early, South Africa made confident progress, with Mignon du Preez and Lizelle Lee adding 60 for the second wicket. Lee scored a patiend 30, but du Preez maintained brisk pace, scoring 38 in 34 balls with the help of four boundaries. Both batsmen were dismissed, but Marizanne Kapp ensured there were no further hiccups as South Africa strolled to the target in the last over.

"It's been a long day, but very rewarding for our team," Mignon du Preez said. "I'm so proud of the professionalism that the team displayed today. Everyone put their hand up, whether they were playing or not and everyone contributed to the success of the day.

"Lizelle (Lee), Trish (Trisha Chetty) and Kappie (Marizanne Kapp) did really well with the bat and our bowlers did a great job to set up the match for us. Moosie (Moseline Daniels), Shibby (Shabnim Ismail) and Sunétjie (Suné Luus) made sure that the wickets were constantly falling and kept the pressure up all the way to the end. I'm also happy to have been able to contribute with the bat and on the field. Nothing makes a captain happier than a solid team effort, and that's what we had today."