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Sports Reporter
The world was a very different place on Thursday the 21st of November, 1996. The Pope was St John Paul II., Blackstreet featuring Dr Dre was number one in the music charts with No Diggitty, and no one had heard of Twitter or selfies.
In cricket, Zimbabwe was among the best in the world, and Nomvelo Sibanda had just been born. The cricket Queen of Bulilima District in Plumtree, Matabeleland South province was born on 21 November 1996 and is a Zimbabwean cricketer who just won the African Games title with her fellow Lady Chevrons after they beat South Africa in the final in Accra Ghana on Wednesday.
The left-arm medium bowler was 0-11 from two overs as Zimbabwe emerged as the inaugural champions of the Women’s T20 Cricket tournament at the 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana, clinching the gold medal after a riveting Super Over victory against South Africa in the final held at the Achimota Senior Secondary School.
Batting first, Zimbabwe posted a total of 112/5 in their allotted 20 overs, Modester Mupachikwa leading the scoring with 31 runs off 49 balls. In reply, all-rounder Miané Smit scored an unbeaten 31* runs from 32 balls for South Africa, which led to a dramatic tie before the Lady Chevrons secured the win in the one-over eliminator to claim gold.
After winning the toss and choosing to field, South Africa resisted a strong start from the Lady Chevrons openers as Leah Jones (1/25) struck in the fourth over to dismiss Sharne Mayers (10) to leave Zimbabwe 18/1.
Ndhlovu and Mupachikwa then combined for an important second-wicket stand to help Zimbabwe reach 39/1 at the end of the power play before guiding their side across the 50-run mark in the eighth over.
Soon after reaching the halfway stage of the innings on 63/1, Ndhlovu and Mupachikwa’s partnership was eventually brought to an end on 49 by the South African captain as Nondumiso Shangase (1/9) pinned Ndhlovu LBW for 28 off 27 balls.
Despite losing Ndhlovu, Zimbabwe continued to build their innings, with Mupachikwa and Mary-Anne Musonda (8) adding 16 runs for the third wicket before both fell in consecutive deliveries to Ghandi Jafta (1/14) and Kayla Reyneke (1/21), leaving Zimbabwe at 83/4 in the 16th over.
With 113 runs required to be crowned the first-ever African Games champion, South Africa were disappointed early on as the opening three batters lost their wickets in the power play, with Josephine Nkomo (1/16), Ndhlovu (2/21) and a run out responsible for removing Simone Lourens (3), Annerie Dercksen (5) and Faye Tunnicliffe (10).
At the end of the sixth over South Africa were 26/3, and soon lost their fourth of the innings when skipper Shangase (7) was caught out by Nkomo in the inner-ring, with Loreen Tshuma (1/14) opening her account.
With a rebuild job required from the South Africans, the duo of Jones (15) and Smit steered Team SA to 45/4 after 10 overs before Zimbabwe struck again, this time Francisca Chipare (1/18) bowling Jones in the 11th over.
As the run rate crept up to 7.5 an over, Smit guided the innings alongside Meso (12), adding 36 runs for the sixth wicket before Meso’s dismissal off Marenge’s (1/26) bowling left South Africa 84/6 after 16.2 overs.
In a tense finale, Smit and Jafta (7) worked diligently to guide South Africa to the brink of victory on 112/7. However, a run-out off the final ball led to a tie, forcing the match into a Super Over.
In the subsequent six-ball shootout, Zimbabwe claimed two wickets while conceding only two runs. In the chase, Zimbabwe’s Ndhlovu (4*) sealed the historic win and a gold medal with a lofted sweep for four off the second ball as Team SA ended up with the silver medal. (Additional reporting from online sources)
Online Reporter