India suffered their first loss of the ICC Women's World Cup at the hands of South Africa and that too in a meek manner. The Proteas were on top right from the start and barring a blip in the middle overs, cruised to a 115 run victory and thus ending India's 16-game unbeaten streak.
Dane van Niekerk starred with the bat and the ball and deservedly won the Player of the Match award. India had a strange batting collapse which led to this heavy loss. Mithali Raj scored a duck while the spinners failed to create the desired impact. On that note, here are the five things that went wrong for India in their humbling defeat at the hands of South Africa:
#5 Failing to end the first innings on a high
South Africa had a brilliant start to their innings courtesy of Lizelle Lee. The Proteas were cruising at 160/3 at one stage after just 27 overs. But the Indian spinners broke the spine of their middle order and took wickets at regular intervals between the 27th and the 40th over. South Africa were reduced to 203/6 at one stage and at that time, it looked like the Indian ladies had regained control of the game.
But Dane van Niekerk played a captain's knock and along with the lower order, scored big in the last 10 to change the course of the game. South Africa reached 273 because of van Niekerk and Chloe Tyron's power hitting. The Indians were poor in the final few overs with the spinners failing to bowl in the right areas. The late surge gave South Africa all the momentum going into the second innings.
#4 Smriti Mandhana throwing away her wicket
If India wanted to have any chance of chasing the mammoth target of 274, Smriti Mandhana needed to give them a solid platform. But like the games against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Mandhana threw her wicket away against a tame short delivery. Marizanne Kapp celebrated wildly after getting Mandhana out cheaply which reflected the magnitude of the southpaw’s wicket.
There was only one fielder in the deep and Mandhana sadly found her with a pull shot that went horribly wrong. After a solid start to the tournament, the bespectacled batter seems to have hit a bad patch. She needs to take her time in the middle and then attempt her shots as India's batting revolves around her to a certain extent.
#3 Mithali Raj's golden duck
In a game where everyone thought Mithali Raj would break the 6000 run barrier and in the process become the highest run-getter in women's cricket, it turned out to be a flop show. Chasing 274, Raj came to the crease after Poonam Raut threw away her wicket with a wild slog.
Raj was up against her counterpart, van Niekerk and the South African captain castled Raj with a straight delivery. Raj had left a gap between her bat and pad and the ball skidded off the wicket and hit her off stump. Sadly, this was the first golden duck of Raj’s illustrious career.
#2 Middle order collapse
India needed a solid display from their batting order if they were to stand a chance tonight against South Africa. But it turned out to be a rather embarrassing effort from the ladies as a middle order collapse dented their chances.
India's three best batters faced just five balls and scored just four runs. The eves were reduced to 65/7 at one stage before Deepti Sharma and Jhulan Goswami helped them reach at least 158. Wickets fell in clusters and the side were undone in the end by some quality South African bowling.
#1 India's soft spine exposed
India's batting in this World Cup has depended a lot on the trio of Poonam Raut, Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj. Their undercooked middle order was exposed against Pakistan and was again in the spotlight against the Proteas. The opening three batters got out cheaply and thus the onus was on the youngster Deepti Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur to resurrect the innings. But Kaur failed and Veda Krishnamurthy also could not trouble the scorers.
India are yet to deliver a collective performance and the spine of this team looks weak and unstable. In the upcoming games against Australia and New Zealand, India will need their batters to join the party and help them reach the semifinals.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download Cric Rocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more!
