Playing a tournament opener in front of a home crowd can do funny things to a team – just ask Australia (who lost to India in 2020) or England (who did the same in 2017). And so it proved again at Newlands on Friday. The first match of the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup should have been a chance for South Africa to record an easy win, after restricting Sri Lanka to a measly 129 for four.
Instead, their opponents had them on the ropes at 72 for five in the 13th over, and despite a mad scramble from Suné Luus (28 from 27 balls) and Sinalo Jafta (15 off 9) to revive the innings, the hosts fell an agonising four runs short. The emotional strain of living the dream of playing in a home World Cup but without her wife, Dane van Niekerk, by her side had shown plainly on the face of Marizanne Kapp during the national anthems; by the end Kapp’s tears were infectious.
The International Cricket Council won’t be happy. As proceedings got under way in Cape Town, it became clear just how much they have invested in making this tournament a success. Friday night’s game was prefaced with a 20-minute show involving local dancers, trumpeters, DJs and baton-twirlers, and a rousing rendition of the tournament anthem, #TurnItUp.
The tournament is being broadcast to a potential audience of more than 900 million, 12% higher than the previous edition in 2020. The ICC has even hired generators to ensure the tournament is not disrupted by the current daily rolling blackouts in South Africa.
But a mere 40km away in the town of Paarl, which is hosting three tournament fixtures including England’s opening match against West Indies, the scale of the challenge facing the ICC was made clear. In a sports bar in the centre of town showing the cricket, most patrons barely noticed when the power cut out midway through the Sri Lanka innings.
“I used to follow cricket, but I have to work too much now,” the bar server Ethan told me. “I had no idea the World Cup was being played here, and I’m not sure many people follow women’s sport anyway, which is pretty sad.” This is the first women’s cricket World Cup to take place in South Africa since 2005: challenging those prevailing attitudes could be tricky; 8,402 people watched this match – a record crowd for a women’s match in South Africa – which is a start.
It should have been an easy run chase for South Africa. Ninety minutes after the anthems Kapp was celebrating taking the crucial wicket of Chamari Athapaththu – the Sri Lankan captain miscuing a pull to long leg in the 18th over after smashing 68 from 50 balls. The previous delivery, the 17-year-old prodigy Vishmi Gunaratne (35 off 34) had been run out by a direct hit from Tazmin Brits at cover, ending a lucrative partnership with her captain.
But the South Africa reply never quite got going: Brits, Kapp and Chloe Tryon were caught trying to hit out on a slow pitch, while Laura Wolvaardt managed only one gorgeous cover drive before top-edging a sweep. It was all a bit strange – at least until you consider the intense pressure this team are under. The sad reality in women’s sport is that one of the best ways to raise interest remains winning a World Cup at home, and these players have to do it in the shadow of losing their captain to a newly imposed, seemingly random fitness standard.
South Africa could still qualify for the semi-finals, but with tougher matches in the group to come – they next play New Zealand on Monday – they have lost their chance of making it a certainty. There are no easy wins here. Just ask the ICC.
