Richa Ghosh’s lower-order fireworks rescue India

The Indian openers, Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal, got their side off to a confident start with a 55-run opening partnership, after skipper Laura Wolvaardt won the toss and opted to bowl first. The Indian vice-captain, Smriti Mandhana (23 off 32 balls), threw away another promising start as the left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba sent her back to the pavilion in the 11th over of the innings to provide the 1st breakthrough for South Africa.

The left-arm spin duo of Chloe Tryon (10-0-32-3) and Nonkululeko Mlaba exploited the weakness and ran through the Indian middle order. Another failure from the top-order dug them into a hole, as they found themselves in deep trouble at 102/6 in the 26th over of the innings. Rich Ghosh joined Amanjot Kaur at the crease and led some sort of a recovery with a much-needed 51-run partnership for the 7th wicket.

Amanjot Kaur (13 off 44 balls) didn’t look as fluent as she would’ve liked through the course of that partnership. Chloe Tryon ended Amanjot Kaur’s stay at the crease in the final over of her spell, providing a crucial 7th breakthrough for her side in the 40th over of the innings. Sneh Rana, who’s been an absolute saviour with her cameos lower down the order, joined Richa Ghosh at the crease, with 10 overs to go in the innings.

The pair exhibited counterattack from both ends en route to their record-highest 88-run 8th wicket partnership for India, which took India closer to the 250-run mark. Marizanne Kapp ended Sneh Rana’s promising (33 off 24 balls) stay at the crease in the penultimate over of the innings. India eventually managed a competitive total of 251 before getting bundled out with a ball to spare.

India managed to score 98 runs in their final 10 overs, on the back of Richa Ghosh (94 off 77 balls) and Sneh Rana’s fireworks. She fell just 6 runs short of her well-deserved century. However, she broke a few records en route to her stay at the crease, apart from infusing the momentum into the Indian innings. She has the highest score by an Indian number 8 or lower in the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup.

Nadine de Klerk (6.5-0-52-2), Marizanne Kapp (9-0-45-2), and Tumi Sekhukhune (7-0-29-1) played their part with the ball for South Africa.

Laura Wolvaardt and Nadine de Klerk guide South Africa home

Defending a total of 252, India were exceptional in the field, grabbing every opportunity that came their way. The youngster Kranti Goud grabbed a one-handed stunner on her follow-through, with her reflexes coming to the fore to remove the centurion from the previous game, Tazmin Brits, for a duck in the 3rd over of the run chase to provide the 1st breakthrough for India. The moment of brilliance inspired the whole fielding unit.

Amanjot Kaur removed another in-form batter in Sune Luus in the 6th over of the innings, to give India the upper hand early on in their defence. The experienced Marizanne Kapp joined skipper Laura Wolvaardt at the crease, and the duo led some sort of a recovery with a much-needed 39-run partnership for the 3rd wicket, which also took them past the 50-run mark.

Skipper Laura Wolvaardt struggled to find a reliable partner who could take the game deep. As a result, South Africa found themselves in trouble at 81/5 in the 20th over of the run chase. The vice-captain Chloe Tryon joined skipper Laura Wolvaardt at the crease, and the experienced duo showed the grit and the determination to keep the scoreboard ticking en route to their 61-run stand for the 6th wicket, keeping the Proteas on track in the run chase.

Kranti Goud delivered another potentially decisive moment as she got the big scalp of the opposition skipper, Laura Wolvaardt (70 off 111 balls), providing the crucial 6th breakthrough for India. Nadine de Klerk joined Chloe Tryon at the crease, and she showed impressive maturity to take South Africa closer with another vital 69-run stand for the 7th wicket.

Sneh Rana broke the stand, by sending Chloe Tryon (49 off 66 balls) back to the pavilion in the 46th over of the run chase to provide the crucial 7th breakthrough for her side. She fell just one run short of her half-century. The departure of the vice-captain, Chloe Tryon, meant the onus was completely on Nadine de Klerk to guide Proteas over the line, with 41 runs needed in the last four overs.

She eventually unleashed a decisive blow, smashing Kranti Goud for a couple of maximums and a boundary, taking 18 runs off her over, tilting the balance in South Africa’s favour. South Africa eventually got over the line with 3 wickets in hand and seven balls to spare. Nadine De Klerk notched up her career-best score of 84* (54 balls) in the format, coming in at number 8.

Sneh Rana (10-0-47-2). Kranti Goud (9-0-59-2), Shree Charani (10-1-37-1), and Deepti Sharma (10-0-54-1) were impressive with the ball for India. Nadine de Klerk came out on top in the number 8 battle between her and the Indian wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh, and the South African all-rounder was rightly named the Player of the Match for her all-round impact. She returned with impressive match figures of 6.5-0-52-2 and chipped in with a match-winning knock of 84* (54 balls) with the bat to guide her side over the line. The Laura Wolvaardt-led side registers back-to-back victories to end India’s unbeaten run in the tournament.