The Indian women’s cricket team’s perfect campaign in the Women’s T20I Tri-Series in South Africa did not end on a perfect note, as they suffered a five-wicket defeat in the final match against the hosts, which took place in East London’s Buffalo Park on Thursday.
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bat first, but looking back at it now, the decision might haunt her. The visitors had an awful start, as in the second over of the match, Smriti Mandhana was clean-bowled by Nonkululeko Mlaba for a duck.
Jemimah Rodrigues and Harleen Deol tried to ensure a second wicket does not fall in quick succession, but by doing so, they failed to make use of the fielding restrictions of the powerplay. In the first over after the powerplay, South Africa once again established control as Mlaba got her second wicket by sending Rodrigues back to the pavilion.
The onus was then on skipper Kaur to lead by example, and she did that by playing a fairly decent knock of 21 runs. But just when India was getting a move on and starting to look menacing, Sune Luus entered the party and sent Kaur packing.
Deol, however, kept going despite the loss of wickets. The courageous 24-year-old batter from Punjab scored 46 runs from 56 deliveries, which included four boundaries. Alongside her, Deepti Sharma also played a decent last-ditch knock of unbeaten 16 runs from 14 deliveries.
That being said, none of the two could really push the accelerator as the South African bowlers always had control of the game. Deol eventually lost her battle in the last over as Ayabonga Khaka got her clean bowled, which saw India failing to cross even the 110-run mark.
Ultimately, the visitors could only amass 109/4 from their 20 overs. From Luus’ team, Mlaba was the best bowler as not only did she pick up two wickets, but she also conceded just 16 runs from her four-over spell. Every single Proteas bowler except Chloe Tryon had an economy rate of 6 or less, which only goes on to highlight their brilliant combined effort.
Given that the score they had to defend was very low, Kaur needed his bowlers to give the team a superb team. Thankfully, her wish came to fruition as just like South Africa did with Mandhana’s wicket, India sent the opposition’s most reliable batter, Laura Wolvaardt back to the pavilion for a duck.
India’s trump card from the tournament, Deepti was instrumental yet again as it was her looping delivery which caught the opening batter completely off-guard. Following her dismissal, Tazmin Brits and Lara Goodall tried to rescue the hosts, but neither could stay on the crease for long.
Brits was the first from the duo to be dismissed, as she lost her wicket to Sneh Rana in the 6th over after scoring just 8 runs. After that, Goodall was clean-bowled by Rajeshwari Gayakwad in the very next over to put India in the driver’s seat.
Chloe Tryon scored her maiden T20I half-century
The entire responsibility of getting the team over the line was now on the skipper, Luus, who got a start but could not capitalize on it. Together with Tryon, she added 26 runs for the fourth-wicket stand before her knock eventually met its end.
In the 11th over, Renuka Singh picked up her first wicket as in an attempt to play a classy flick, Luus edged the ball straight into the palms of an ever-alert Deepti. At 47/4 with less than 10 overs to spare, the balance was fully tilted in India’s favor.
The scales tipped further when only three overs later, new batter Annerie Dercksen edged a delivery off Rana back into the hands of the bowled. South Africa had their backs to the wall at 66/5, but Tryon came to the team’s rescue.
Thanks to her two fours, 14 runs came from the 15th over which was bowled by Pooja Vastrakar, and that turned the game on its head. In the next over, South Africa amassed 13 more runs off Deepti’s bowling, including a massive six from Tryon’s bat.
By then, the game looked already sealed and secured by the Proteas, but Tryon continued her onslaught to bring up her maiden T20I half-century in the 17th over. In the next over, she smashed her second six, this time off Rana’s bowling, to help South Africa chase the total down with 12 balls to spare and five wickets in hand.