India head coach Amol Muzumdar refuses to blame Radha Yadav for South Africa defeat after 2 dropped catches

India lost their first match at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 on June 21. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India faltered in the fielding department. Out of three dropped catches, two were registered in Radha Yadav's account. Radha is known for pulling off blinders but she gave Marizanne Kapp two reprieves by dropping her catch. Marizanne went on to score an unbeaten 81 as South Africa won by six wickets at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester. But, India head coach Amol Muzumdar refused to blame her for the defeat. He expects her to make up for the dropped catches going ahead in the tournament.

"Radha has been an exceptional fielder, I think world-class fielder, and those two catches were (there)... but things happen on a cricket field. Sometimes things go right, sometimes, things go wrong. Unfortunately, Radha was on the other side this time, but I'm sure, she's a strong character, and I'm sure somewhere in this tournament she'll make up for it," Muzumdar said in the post-match press conference.

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Radha’s 2 missed chances

The first opportunity to dismiss Marizanne was created by Shree Charani in the 13th over. The veteran South Africa all-rounder targeted the long-on boundary. But, Radha overran a bit while moving t her right. She cramped up and could not get her hands on the ball. Marizanne was batting on 25 then.

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The second opportunity came in the 17th over. Shafali Verma had dismissed Tazmin Brits. She conceded a six off Marizanne but the South African went for another aerial shot. This one was a sitter for Radha at long-on but it ended up popping out of her hands as well. Marizanne was batting on 65 then.

In the penultimate over, she hit Deepti Sharma for a couple of sixes. From 18 runs needed off last two overs, the equation was two runs for the final over. Marizanne remained unbeaten for 81 off 45 balls as South Africa chased down 159 with five balls to spare.

Marizanne rode her luck in Manchester

Earlier in the run chase, there was a half a chance missed by pacer Nandni Sharma. In the 10th over, Marizanne went for a sweep shot against debutant Prema Rawat but managed a top-edge. Nandi ran towards the deep square leg, got her palm to it but the ball ended up going over the ropes for a six.

India’s qualification scenario

Despite the defeat, India are placed second on Group A points table as their net run rate (NRR) is considerably higher than South Africa. While Australia are at the top with three wins, India, South Africa and Bangladesh have two wins each from three games. In order to qualify for the semifinals, the equation for India is simple. They need to beat Bangladesh and Australia in their next matches on June 25 and June 28 respectively to make it to last four. If they lose one of these games, they will have to depend on result of other games to qualify for the semifinals.