World Cup playoffs in Proteas’ hands ahead of Bangladesh clash

New Zealand did the Proteas a massive favour by leaving qualification for the semifinals of the Women’s T20 World Cup firmly in their hands ahead of their final pool match against Bangladesh on Tuesday night.

The SA team were in danger of being knocked out of the tournament on Sunday, with a win for Sri Lanka set to eliminate the Proteas’ chances of reaching the playoffs, but instead the White Ferns thrashed their opponents by 102 runs to keep South Africa in the hunt.

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Currently the White Ferns sit second on the pool A log (behind Australia) on four points, just ahead of Sri Lanka on net run rate.

The Proteas are fourth on two points, but thanks to a vastly superior net run rate, all they need is a win over Bangladesh to confirm their progress to the knockouts ahead of New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

However, a shock loss would knock them out of the competition.

Must-win match

The Proteas opened the World Cup with a surprise loss to Sri Lanka, which immediately put them on the back foot, but they responded with a thumping win over the White Ferns to get back into contention.

A loss to defending champions and tournament favourites Australia in their third pool match was largely expected, and they now have to beat Bangladesh to get through.

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The Proteas should be able to beat Bangladesh, who have had a difficult tournament so far, losing by seven wickets to Sri Lanka, by eight wickets against Australia and by 71 runs against New Zealand.

Qualification for the playoffs is thus fully in the Proteas’ hands and they should be confident of going through as long as they are not affected by rain or produce a horror performance.