Riding on Nadine de Klerk’s career-best knock, South Africa defeated India by three wickets at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Thursday (October 9).
This defeat halted India’s stellar start to the ongoing World Cup. The Women in Blue started the season with back-to-back wins, but suffered a loss against South Africa. India currently sit third in the points table with two wins from three matches and will next face top-ranked Australia.
India’s top and middle ranks exposed
On the other hand, South Africa are in 4th place with 2 wins from 3 matches. They started their campaign with a 10-wicket defeat against England, but bounced back with impressive wins against New Zealand and India.
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India faced a collapse in their batting line-up for three consecutive games and were sluggish at 102/6. The home side were at 83/1 at one point, but a collapse began in the 17th over when Harleen Deol was dismissed. India lost five wickets for just 19 runs and were firmly on the back foot.
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Richa Ghosh then took charge of the innings and scored an impressive 94 runs, pushing the team to a competitive total of 251 runs. Her knock came in just 77 balls, sprinkled with 11 fours and four sixes.
Richa and Amanjot Kaur steadied the ship by adding 51 runs for the seventh wicket, with the latter departing for 13. This was followed by an 88-run stand between Richa and Sune Rana for the eighth wicket. Richa seemed destined to complete a great century, but lost his wicket on the fourth ball of the final over.
For South Africa, Chloe Tryon took three wickets, while Marisanne Kapp, de Klerk and Nonkululeko Mhlaba each took two.
Nadine de Klerk brings South Africa home:
Chasing 252 runs, South Africa lost wickets regularly from the start and were at a sluggish 81/5 after 20 overs. At this stage their chances of victory looked all but over, but captain Laura Wolvath kept her side in the fight with a good knock of 70 points.
She and Tryon revived South Africa’s hopes with a 61-run stand for the sixth wicket before Kranti Gaud sacked the South African captain and put India in the driver’s seat. However, the wicket did not give India any respite as de Klerk did not let the breakthrough take advantage of.
She and Tryon added 69 runs for the seventh wicket, turning the game on its head. Sune Rana ended the stand by dismissing Tryon for 49, but de Klerk stayed till the end and scored an unbeaten 84 off just 54 balls to take his team home within 49 overs. Her knock was studded with eight fours and five sixes.
India vs South Africa quick score:
India 251 (49.5 overs): Richa Ghosh 94 (77);Chloe Tryon 3-32
South Africa 252 wins, 7 losses (48.5 overs): Nadine the Clec 84* (54), Laura Walbreth 70 (111)
South Africa won by 3 wickets