South Africa batter Nadine de Klerk accused the Indian team of deliberately slowing the game down during the World Cup clash on Sunday. This comes after India wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh went down with an 'injury' during the 47th over after de Klerk had smashed Kranti Goud for two maximums and a boundary in the first three deliveries. This led to a halt in the game as the physio came onto the field to check on Richa. However, de Klerk was quite unhappy with this and even complained to the umpires.
De Klerk's unbeaten 84 takes SA to victory
Eventually, de Klerk would end up taking the Proteas to victory in the very next over by smashing two sixes to Amanjot Kaur which saw her side achieve the 252-run target with seven deliveries left to spare. After the conclusion of the match, de Klerk wen t on to accuse the Indian team of intentionally slowing the game down during an important situation in the match.
“Yeah, look, I think we just kind of questioned whether something really happened. We obviously felt like it was quite tactical from India to try and slow the game down. But I think in the end it actually worked out quite well because we also got a bit of a refreshment and it just gave me a few seconds to restart my head and my game plans as well. I think in the end it worked out quite well," de Klerk told reporters after the match.
"But, yeah, we knew it was quite tactical. They really tried to slow the game down, especially with starting the over quite well and then it was all about just slowing things down. But like I said, it worked out quite well for us," she added.
South Africa weren't really affected with the halt as de Klerk's heroics saw them record their second consecutive victory of the tournament. The Proteas seem to have picked up their form after a one-sided 10-wicket defeat to England in their opening game. They now stand fourth on the points table and are behind India due to an inferior net run-rate.
India to face Australia next
On the other hand, India will be hoping to bounce back from this defeat but they will have to perform at their very best if they want to beat defending champions Australia in their next match of the tournament that is set to take place on October 12.