Team India's unbeaten streak in the Women's World Cup only lasted for two matches as South Africa defeated them by three wickets in Visakhapatnam. Though the Proteas looked to be in quite a tough situation at one stage during their run-chase of 252, Nadine de Klerk's terrific unbeaten knock of 84 ensured that her side came out victorious with seven deliveries left to spare.
After winning the toss and inviting India to bat first, the South African bowlers seemed to struggle against India openers Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana. However, they eventually broke the 55-run stand in the 11th over for 23 as Nonkululeko Mlaba opened her wicket-account for the day. Following this wicket, the Women in Blue ended up suffering a batting collapse with almost the entirety of the middle-order getting dismissed for cheap scores.
The likes of Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma all got dismissed cheaply as the hosts got restricted to 102/6 at one stage and looked to be in big trouble. However, wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh ended up being the side's saviour as she first formed a 51-run stand with Amanjot Kaur before completely shifting gears and tearing apart the opposing bowlers.
Ghosh saved India's sinking ship
Ghosh and Sneh Rana's valiant partnership of 88 runs saw India go well above the 200-run mark and it even saw Ghosh get incredibly close to reaching her hundred. However, she fell short by just six runs and was dismissed in the final over by de Klerk. But, thanks to her heroic inning of 94, India managed to post a fighting total of 251 on the board.
In reply, South Africa had a poor start and lost star batter Tazmin Britts for a duck in the second over to Kranti Goud. Amanjot soon opened her account for the day and got the wicket of Sune Luus in the sixth over. Though wickets kept falling from one end, skipper Laura Wolvaardt kept the scoreboard ticking from the other. With her team on 81/5 at one stage, she formed an important 61-run stand with Chloe Tryon and also reached her fifty. She eventually lost her wicket for 70 runs to Kranti, but her inning was enough to provide the Proteas with a fighting chance.
De Klerk turned the match in South Africa's favour
It was the partnership between Tryon and de Klerk that completely changed the match as they smacked the Indian bowlers all around the park and took their side incredibly close to the target with their 69-run stand. Though Tryon got dismissed for 49 runs to Sneh in the 46th over, de Klerk went on to single-handedly take South Africa over the line with a spectacular knock. She finished off the match with a six to Amanjot on the second-last delivery of the 49th over.
This victory saw South Africa climb to the fourth place on the points table with four points from three games. Their next match in the tournament will be against Bangladesh on October 13. On the other hand, India will be hoping to bounce back from this three-wicket defeat in their next game that will be against defending champions Australia on October 12.