Satterthwaite four-for helps NZ steal 12-run win

Amy Satterthwaite bagged a career-best 4 for 13 as New Zealand Women took the last five wickets without conceding a run to snatch a tight 12-run win from South Africa Women in the first ODI in Kimberley.

In pursuit of 128, South Africa lost Lara Goodall, Mignon du Preez and Marizanne Kapp to the right-arm seam of Lea Tahuhu, thereby slipping to 8 for 3. That became 34 for 4 when Lizelle Lee was dismissed for 17. New captain Dane van Niekerk then took the lead in resurrecting the run chase, putting on 44 for the fifth wicket with Laura Wolvaardt and 37 for the sixth wicket with Chloe Tryon.

That sixth-wicket stand was brought to an end by Satterthwaite, who bowled van Niekerk for 37 to leave South Africa at 115 for 6, still favourites to score the 13 more runs needed for victory. Incredibly they did not even get one. Satterthwaite and Erin Bermingham split the remaining four wickets between them to complete a collapse of five wickets for no run in the space of 27 balls.

Earlier, New Zealand had been bowled out for 127, with only Bermingham (33), Sam Curtis (22) and Satterthwaite (19) making contributions of note. Bermingham's 36-run ninth-wicket stand with Tahuhu was the biggest of the innings and ended up giving the visitors just the cushion they needed to pull of their dramatic heist.

The win helped New Zealand consolidate their place in the top four of the ICC Women's Championship, a good sign for their chances for automatic qualification in next year's World Cup in England.