Debutant Kayla Reyneke’s last-ball six wraps up incredible win

Kayla Reyneke, the 20-year-old South African, smashed a last-ball six on her ODI debut to pull off an exhilarating win against New Zealand in the series opener on Sunday, March 29.

Reyneke, who finished on 42 off 32, denied two singles against Suzie Bates, taking the equation from six off three to six off one, and then cleared the ropes to clinch the absolute thriller.

The game ebbed and flowed in the final phase, as South Africa stumbled in their chase of 269, a middle-order collapse undoing the headstart provided by Annerie Dercksen and Sune Luus.

It came down to Nadine de Klerk, and then finally Reyneke to see the job through, with the debutant’s two sixes in the final over capping off a closely-contested game.

“I am just trying to enjoy moment. As a youngster, you want to soak it in,” she later said with a smile.

Brief scores: New Zealand Women 268/10 in 50 overs (Maddy Green 85, Ayabonga Khaka 6-56) lost to South Africa Women 269/8 in 50 overs (Annerie Dercksen 72, Amelia Kerr 2-31) by two wickets