Visakhapatnam: India’s three-wicket defeat to South Africa in a thrilling encounter in the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup, which saw lower-order batters twice change the fortunes of their teams, has further exposed two problem areas for Harmanpreet Kaur’s team that may thwart the hosts in their avowed aim of going all the way to their maiden title.
Thursday’s defeat to South Africa further revealed the vulnerabilities of India’s top-order batting and the limited bowling resources as the two Achilles heels that could bring the juggernaut to a grinding halt.
Though wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh, whose brilliant knock of 94 off 77 balls and a no-holds-barred assault by Sneh Rana in a cameo of 33 off 24 helped India post a competitive total of 251 all out, supported the top-order batters and said they would come back strongly in the next set of matches, the problem seems a bit deep-rooted and needs immediate attention.
But the frailties of the late-order bowling were left bare as Nadine de Klerk produced an equally sensational knock of 84 off 54 balls, hitting five sixes, the most by a late-order batter, after a composed 70 by skipper Laura Wolvaardt and a valuable 49 by Chloe Tryon helped South Africa romp to their second successive victory in the World Cup after slumping to 69 all out in their opener against England.
India won their first two matches against co-hosts Sri Lanka and archrivals Pakistan, thanks to rescue acts by their middle and lower-order batters — Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, and Richa Ghosh in particular — and some fine bowling by their spin bowlers — Deepti, Sneh Rana, and N. Shree Charani.
Though the top-order failed again and the middle-order of Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma joined them on the sidelines as India slumped to 102/6 against South Africa on Thursday evening, Richa, along with Amanjot and Sneh, hauled them to a competitive total, sharing half-century partnerships with both.
“First, about the top order — they’re all very good players. One match doesn’t define them. Anything can happen in cricket; it’s our job to do our best every time. You can’t always put the blame on the top order,” said Richa in the post-match press conference.
While the late-order batters did their job and the pacers initially supported them with two early wickets, followed by crucial strikes by spinners Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, and Shree Charani that reduced South Africa to 142/6 and also helped raise the asking rate to 10 runs per over for the Proteas. But the 47th over bowled by pacer Kranti Gaud in her third spell proved decisive as de Klerk blasted two sixes and a four in the first three balls to bring down the equation to a more manageable 24 off 21 balls. IANS
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