Despite a brilliant batting effort from South Africa, half-centuries from Mithali Raj and Punam Raut steered India to a fantastic 5-wicket win to clinch the three-match series with an unassailable 2-0 lead, writes Naeemah Benjamin.
The visitors put in a much better performance with the bat but would definitely feel like they let themselves down in the middle overs and left too much to do at the end.
Posting 247 is a decent total, and walking off the field they’d have felt confident to defend it but there was definitely about 30-40 more runs up for grabs.
The number of dot balls during the middle overs when the spinners came in from both ends left a lot to be desired. SA will need to learn how to counter-attack it, somehow in the future.
SA were put in to bat after skipper Sune Luus lost the toss.
Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt got off to a cautiously steady start notching up an opening stand worth 76 runs before Poonam Yadav struck immediately after the drinks break to get the first breakthrough for her team.
They dismissed Lizelle Lee after a sweet innings of 40 off 54 balls (3 fours and a six), after she was more tentative than usual.
Jhulan Goswami took a wicket off her first delivery in the first ODI but this time around she started with a wide and so did Shikha Pandey.
Early on, a healthy edge off Wolvaardt’s bat went through a gap with both the first and second slip fielders diving for it. Although the opening spell of India wasn’t as threatening, the SA batters were kept at bay. After 16 overs, they were 76-1.
One thing the Proteas Women lacked in the first ODI was partnerships and a solid foundation. In this ODI they managed three 50-run stands.
Trisha Chetty and Wolvaardt kept the scoreboard ticking at a snail’s pace. Failing to rotate the strike as frequently as they would’ve hoped, soaking up dot ball after dot ball.
The hosts kept the runs at bay, despite the wickets column not being a problem for the team in green.
Laura Wolvaardt registered her 15th ODI half-century and shared in two 50+ partnerships.
Shikha Pandey picked up two wickets in quick succession. First, dismissing Chetty for 22 and then SA’s top scorer Wolvaardt for 69.
After 34 overs SA were 142-3.
Lara Goodall who replaced Nadine de Klerk was promoted up the order and the message was clear that she needed to up the ante and that she did.
She timed the ball well and hit some glorious shots alongside the experienced Mignon du Preez. At the 40-over mark, SA were 188-3.
In the final 10 overs, SA took on the bowlers and were well on course for a strong finish. Lara Goodall danced down the track and Taniya Bhatia stumped her for a fiery 38 off 32.
Proteas women were 201-4 after 42 overs.
Sune Luus tried sweeping but it was off the glove straight to the keeper and had to go for 12. Kapp joined Du Preez who got dropped twice on 32 but her luck ran out as she charged down the track, missed the ball and watched her stumps castled. She departed with 2 balls to spare.
SA posted 247-5 in 50 overs.
Defending 248, the visitors would’ve fancied their chances and came out confident. It was slow going for the hosts as Kapp’s first 3 overs went for only 3 runs.
Shabnim Ismail went off with a bit of a niggle forcing skipper Luus to make bowling changes earlier than prepared for.
Ayabongha Khaka replaced Ismail, with a lovely first over claiming the big wicket of Jemimah Rodrigues for 18. India were 34-1 after 8 overs.
Khaka’s first over went for just 3 runs including a wicket. Her next two went for 30 runs.
After a few quiet overs, India released the breaks and produced a couple of gorgeous drives through Priya Punia to the offside. India were 64-1 after 11 overs.
Ismail came back and she struck instantly, Priya Punia’s carnage came to an end. She departed for 20.
India continued to race along, leaving SA with little to no answers. Mithali Raj and Punam Raut got India to 99-2 after 20 overs.
They continued their onslaught in a 129-run stand for the 3rd wicket. The pair were in complete control and at ease, rotating the strike frequently and both understood their roles perfectly.
Raj brought up her 53rd ODI half-century and Raut registered her 15th ODI fifty. They were comfortably at 178-2 after 35 overs.
Kapp picked up her first wicket dismissing Mithali Raj for a brilliant 66 and Khaka got Punam Raut for 65.
Khaka picked up her third scalp but the damage was done. Harmanpreet Kaur came out blazing, hit a few well-timed boundaries and some were thick outside edges that raced through.
Her quickfire unbeaten knock of 39 steered India to a 5-wicket win with 12 balls to spare.
That’s the ODI series in the bag for India along with the T20 trophy.
Hopefully, SA can fight back to claim a consolation win the third and final ODI on Sunday.
