Proteas Women smash T20 World Cup record score against Thailand

Powered by an incredible century from opener Lizelle Lee the Proteas blasted their way to the biggest score in T20 World Cup history against minnows Thailand.

Having overcome England in their tournament opener, the Proteas would have been keen for a big win to bolster their log position ahead of tougher tasks.

Proteas shrug off sluggish start

Thailand did well to keep the Proteas in check early on with the wicket of Proteas skipper Dane van Niekerk (2) helping matters.

The wicket brought Sune Luus to the wicket to join Lee, and the pair gradually built momentum before letting rip in the second half of the innings.

Lee became just the second Proteas Woman to reach three figures in the format as she scored the 26th WT20I hundred. She is also the fifth T20 World Cup centurion.

Shortly after reaching the milestone Lee’s brutal innings of 101 came to a tame end as she chipped one straight back to bowler Suleeporn Laomi who completed a simple catch.

Luus (61*) kept going until the end with Chloe Tryon blitzing 24 off 11 balls in a handy cameo before being castled by Chanida Sutthiruang.

For the second match in succession Luus and Mignon du Preez ended the innings unbeaten albeit in far less dramatic fashion than when they helped the Proteas chase down a target set by England in Perth.

Chasing a T20 World Cup record score to win against one of the best bowling attacks in women’s cricket proved too stiff a task for Thailand and the steady fall of wickets meant they were never in the frame during their innings.

Luus and Shabnim Ismail picked up three wickets apiece as Thailand crumbled to 82 all out.

MUST SEE@LauraWolvaardt stretches out to take a blinder in South Africa's big #T20WorldCup triumph over Thailand earlier today. pic.twitter.com/AwZzqMoPnf

— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) February 28, 2020

The Proteas move to the top of their group ahead of England and Pakistan. Pakistan upset the West Indies in their opening game effectively throwing open the group and making Net Run Rate an important figure.

Lee was delighted with how her innings came off after a slow start against some good bowling from Thailand.

“It was just one of those days where things paid off for me,” Lee said accepting the player of the match award. 

“We struggled in the powerplay and didn’t get as much as we wanted but Sune and I had a good partnership and that set us up. She did extremely well hitting a fifty as well.”

Skipper not happy

Despite the win Proteas skipper van Niekerk was no happy with a what she believes was a sloppy effort in the field.

“To be honest, no,” she said when asked if she was happy with the performance. 

“The box we wanted to tick was to take the win. But I have to give credit to Lizelle for that century and Sune who accelerated at the back end with Chloe. But I think our fielding let us down today. 

“We always want to be at our best no matter who we play and when we play and whatever the circumstances are and I don’t think we were at our 100 per cent best today. 

“It definitely is a worry. We speak about it a lot. I thought we took our chances against England but we can’t be inconsistent.”

Watch highlights of the Proteas win against Thailand