Mlaba and Wolvaardt-Brits secure effortless opening win for South Africa

South Africa reeled off an effortless opening win against West Indies, as the left-arm spin of Nonkululeko Mlaba devastated West Indies' top order, before Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits produced fuss-free unbeaten fifties. The openers walked South Africa home with 13 balls to spare, in the Dubai curtain-raiser for this women's T20 World Cup.

West Indies couldn't really get out of the blocks, with bat or ball. Stafanie Taylor was their top scorer, with 44 not out off 41. But they never seemed like putting up a huge total, and South Africa never seemed at risk of failing to chase it down.

Mlaba struck once in the powerplay, firing a flatter delivery into Qiana Joseph's off stump to end a pained innings (4 off 14 balls). But she did the majority of her damage through the middle, by which stage West Indies were already battling to put up a decent score.

She was tight with her lines, and that quicker ball was dangerous. She bowled Shemaine Campbelle off her thigh pad in the 12th over, before slowing it down and getting Chinelle Henry caught behind next ball.

In her final over - the 16th of the innings - she had Aaliyah Alleyne failing to keep an off-side slash down, before Brits took a spectacular diving catch at cover. Mlaba finished with 4 for 29 from her four overs, having only conceded two boundaries - a four to Deandra Dottin and a six to Taylor - though she did also bowl five wides down the leg side off her hat-trick ball.

Both Wolvaardt and Brits struck authoritative boundaries in the first over, bowled by Henry. Brits was quieter through the rest of the powerplay, but Wolvaardt was on the charge, hitting especially memorable boundaries through the leg side to move to 29 off 20 by the time the fielding restrictions ended. Brits, in the same period, collected 12 off 16.

With the required rate whittled down to about 5.5 an over, the pair set about accumulating through the middle overs, playing largely risk-free cricket. Wolvaardt was dropped on 33 by Karishma Ramharack, who couldn't hold on to a difficult return chance. But otherwise, South Africa's progress was smooth.

They got to 100 off the first ball of the 15th over, as Wovaardt reached her half-century off the 45th ball she faced. Brits got there next over, also off her 45th ball, having struck four further boundaries since that powerplay. West Indies were never able to put either batter under serious pressure for long.

With Hayley Matthews out in the third over, Joseph bowled soon after, and Dottin out for 13 in the seventh over, Taylor's innings always needed to be a battling one. Aside from smashing one Annerie Dercksen half-volley down the ground in the ninth over, Taylor was largely unambitious through the first half of West Indies' innings, as she attempted to rebuild.

She tried some bigger shots through the back end of the innings, but didn't find a lot of timing. Still, without her, West Indies could have collapsed to a double-digit score.

Marizanne Kapp was not needed for her foremost suit today, but she still had plenty of impact on the game, removing two of West Indies' most dangerous top-order batters. She first had Matthews caught behind, the batter scarcely believing that she had edged that ball. Then Kapp had Dottin holing out to extra cover, attempting a big shot over the off side.

She bowled three of the first seven overs, taking 2 for 11 in the process, before coming back at the death where she gave away just three runs.