Panic sets in and SA women bulldozed

● Kirstie Gordon, the slow left-armer, came round the wicket to Mignon du Preez in SA’s crunch World T20 game in St Lucia yesterday. Du Preez drove: hard, straight, down.

This would not end well. At least, not for the South Africans — who had to win to stay in contention for the semifinals. That didn’t happen, not by a long way.

Gordon dived across the pitch and the ball flicked her hand before speeding onward and nailing the stumps at the non-striker’s end.

The non-striker was Dané van Niekerk, SA’s captain, who admitted her team had panicked on their way to being shot out for 76, their lowest T20 total when all 10 wickets have fallen, by West Indies on Thursday.

Van Niekerk turned smartly enough, but as the stumps were splayed her bat was above the crease.

Kept walking

She didn’t wait for the umpire to confirm her fate, much less consult with Du Preez — a former captain herself and a cool, experienced head — about the chances of surviving because of a dodgy replay.

Instead, Van Niekerk didn’t bother breaking stride. She kept walking into the outfield and towards the boundary, tucking her bat under her arm halfway there.

Her dismissal meant SA were 30/4 in the ninth over. Three balls earlier she had seen Marizanne Kapp try to put Gordon over longon and miscue a catch to long-off. Van Niekerk and Kapp are the only South Africans to reach 30 in the tournament.

There is no bullshit about the wonderfully unvarnished Van Niekerk, and defeat dogged her shadow as she stalked off the field. She knew it was over for a team who had forgotten how to bat.

They were dismissed for 85, with Anya Shrubsole putting them out of their misery by ending the innings with a hattrick.

World-class attack

Mercifully England’s top order got on with things, winning by seven wickets in 14.1 overs thanks largely to an opening stand of 55 between Danielle Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont.

“Once again, our batting was very frustrating,” SA’s coach, Hilton Moreeng, told reporters in St Lucia. “It just didn’t fire in this tournament. We know the quality we have.”

Might the South Africans still have had the Windies game on their minds?

“I think what needed to be said was said in the game against West Indies.

“And today we knew that we had to win. Everybody came in knowing that.

“The attack was world class. They’ve just not been backed up by batters.”

Arise, Shabnim Ismail, who is in the top five in the tournament among wicket-takers and the top 10 in the averages and the strike rates. Van Niekerk’s leg spin, too, has been valuable.

But SA looked too much in the WT20 like their male counterparts have too often.

They’re better than that.