Twitter Reactions: Chloe Tryon's all-round performance hands South Africa massive 65-run victory

The seventh match of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 witnessed hosts South Africa outplaying New Zealand at Boland Park in Paarl to register their first victory of the tournament. New Zealand were handed their second consecutive defeat in the tournament as they continue to struggle for a win, but the 65-run victory surely boosted the hosts’ confidence after they lost their opening fixture.

The game started with South Africa winning the toss and electing to bat first. Just like the previous game, the top order failed to give their side a good start as Laura Wolvaardt, Tazmin Brits, and Marizanne Kapp failed to put up a big score. Skipper Sune Luus’s 17-ball 22, which included four boundaries, somewhere helped the hosts to pull back their innings.

Lea Tahuhu continued her form with the ball as she handed New Zealand a couple of crucial breakthroughs in the beginning. Eden Carson picked up a wicket in the first over to set the momentum straight for the White Ferns. South Africa struggled to add runs to their scoreboard, but Chloe Tryon showed resilience and notched up a 34-ball 40 which was followed by Nadine de Klerk’s 26-ball 28. As a result, the hosts managed to finish at 132/6.

While the target looked like an easy one to chase, the New Zealand batters had a nightmare of a time in the second innings. Nonkululeko Mlaba took South Africa on top by dismissing the opposition openers within the first three overs of the chase. After picking up the wicket of Bernadine Bezuidenhout in the first over, she sent Suzie Bates packing in the first ball of the third over.

New Zealand suffered a terrible collapse as Marizanne Kapp dismissed Georgia Plimmer in the fourth over, which was followed by Amelia Kerr’s wicket off Ayabonga Khaka’s delivery in the fifth over. As a result, the White Ferns ended their powerplay scoring just 19 runs at the loss of four wickets.

Just when it looked like Maddy Green and Sophie Devine were starting to resurrect the innings, Chloe Tryon struck twice in the 14^th over and sent the two back to the pavilion. The tailenders could not do much against the powerful South African bowling lineup, and were bundled out for 67 runs in 18.1 overs while chasing the 133-run target as South Africa clinched a 65-run win.

Here's how Twitter reacted:

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