SA women settle for series draw
South Africa lost the fifth and final women's ODI by 22 runs against the West Indies in Roseau, Dominica, on Tuesday, settling for a 2-2 series draw on the eve of the Women's World Cup.
The West Indies made 177/8 after they won the toss and were sent in to bat, with teenage spin bowler Dane van Niekerk taking 3/31 to lead the Proteas women's attack.
In response, Marizanne Kapp top scored with 40 runs in a losing cause as the SA women were dismissed for 155 runs in the 47th over.
The South Africans had raced to a 2-0 lead after the first two matches of the series in Basseterre, St Kitts.
Van Niekerk starred in the opening game, returning 5/28 as the tourists coasted to an 80-run victory.
In the second clash, spinner Sunette Loubser took 4/11 and Van Niekerk anchored the middle order with an unbeaten 33 as they secured a four-wicket win with 13 balls to spare.
Moving on to Roseau for the last three games, the West Indies women stepped it up a gear, storming to an eight-wicket win with more than 20 overs to spare in the third encounter.
Restricted to 139 all out in the fourth ODI, the SA women were saved by the weather, with the match abandoned in the second innings due to rain, and the hosts hit back to level the series in the final encounter.
Captain Mignon du Preez was the leading run-scorer for the tourists with 133 at an average of 26.60.
Van Niekerk took the most wickets in the series, bagging 10 scalps at 10.60 runs a piece.
The two sides meet in a two-match T20 series in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia, this weekend.
The Proteas women face New Zealand in their opening Group B match of the 50-over Women's World Cup in Mumbai, India, on February 1.
