Women's T20 World Cup: South Africa survive Fatima Sana's all-round show to clinch 1st win

South Africa finally opened their account at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 with a thrilling two-wicket win over Pakistan on Wednesday, June 17 at Edgbaston, Birmingham. After opting to bat first, Pakistan were restricted to 126/9 in their allotted 20 overs as captain Fatima Sana rescued her team from a precarious position of 50/8.

Marizanne Kapp (3/23) ran through Pakistan’s batting line-up, inside the first three overs, while three run-outs also derailed the innings for the Women in Green.

In reply, South Africa didn’t have the smoothest of run chases, but eventually got over the line in 16.5 overs as Annerie Dercksen (52 off 35) scored a brilliant half-century, while Nadine de Klerk (37 off 28) also made a valuable contribution.

Pakistan bowlers fought hard to keep their team in the game, with captain Fatima Sana once again leading from the front with a three-wicket haul, while Sadia Iqbal (2/26) and Tuba Hasan (2/28) scalped two wickets each.

Meanwhile, following their win, South Africa finally managed to earn their first two points of the tournament and climbed to third spot in Group A points table, while Pakistan are still searching for their first win after two matches.

Top run-scorer of the Match

Top wicket-taker of the Match

Player of the Match

Annerie Dercksen was adjudged Player of the Match for her brilliant half-century. She walked in to bat on the score of 11/1 and brought up her fifty off 32 balls. Dercksen stitched a 42-run stand off 31 balls with captain Laura Wolvaardt and added another crucial 23 runs off 18 balls with Marizanne Kapp for the third wicket to give a perfect platform for South Africa’s run chase.

Turning Point

While the Pakistan captain, Fatima Sana, had a great day with both bat and ball, becoming the first skipper to score a half century (55* off 38) and scalp three wickets (3/16, 2.5 overs) in Women’s T20 World Cup, she had an ordinary day as a fielder. Sana first dropped Nadine de Klerk on 5 at extra cover and gave her another reprieve on 31 at the same position. Had she taken those chances, Pakistan could well have got the result in their favour.

What did the captains say:

Winning Captain, Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa women):  

Definitely. Points in the bag are all that matters today. It was a little scratchy and not the way we would have liked, but there are still lots of positives to take out of it. We'll take those and move on. (On Kapp leading the way with a special effort in the powerplay) It was a lovely way to start the game. Setting the tone with a wicket on the first ball was important. I think Kappie was excellent, and I thought Shabnim was great today as well. It was nice to have them bowling in tandem up front and setting up the innings like that. (What could have done differently as a captain when Pakistan fought back with the bat?) We knew Fatima was still there, so we tried our best to keep her off strike for as long as we could and bowl as much as possible to the other batters. I think we did well to keep her as quiet as we did. She's played innings against us before where she's hurt us a lot more than she did today. We probably could have executed a little better at the death, but she batted really well. At the end of the day, we were happy chasing 120.

Losing Captain, Fatima Sana (Pakistan women):

I think we just couldn't finish the game. The fight was there and the effort was there, but we couldn't finish it. (On her partnership with Tuba Hassan) We just tried to take the game deep because we know we have the capability, and Tuba has the capability as well. We tried to take it deep and execute our plans. We couldn't do that in the end, but the fight was there. (On whether herself batting higher up in the order being discussed in the team?) That was a team decision. We sat together and discussed these things. It was a team decision, so we adjusted accordingly. (On scoring a fifty and taking three wickets and her all-round role in the team) I'm enjoying the role, but we still need to win games. I'm enjoying it, but there's still a long way to go. (On handling pressure better in the next game?) Definitely. We need to stay calm in the field, especially when the momentum is against us. We need to be calmer in those situations, and we'll try to improve and execute better next time.