South Africa Women beat India by 5 wickets in tri-series final; batters disappoint in summit clash

Dismal
batting
performance
in
the
summit
clash
cost
Harmanpreet
Kaur-led
side
as
they
could
only
post
a
paltry
109
for
four
after
electing
to
bat
first.

Protea
batter
Tryon
(57
not
out
off
32
balls)
did
exactly
what
all
others
failed
as
she
counter-attacked
with
great
gusto,
hitting
six
fours
and
two
sixes,
to
chase
down
a
meagre
110-run
target
with
two
overs
to
spare.

What
made
Tryon’s
innings
extra
special
was
the
degree
of
difficulty
all
other
batters
encountered
due
to
the
slowness
of
the
track.

Indian
spinners
Deepti
Sharma,
Rajeshwari
Gayakwad
and
Sneh
Rana
tried
their
best
to
offset
a
baffling
batting
approach
by
Harleen
Deol
but
the
target
was
never
a
defendable
one
despite
South
Africa
being
reduced
to
47
for
4
and
subsequently
66
for
5
at
the
start
of
14th
over.

On
a
pitch
where
the
ball
wasn’t
coming
onto
the
bat,
Tryon
did
exactly
the
opposite
of
what
Deol
did.
The
Indians
paid
a
hefty
price
for
the
huge
number
of
dot
balls
consumed
by
Deol.

“Body
is
fine.
It
will
get
better
with
rest.
We
have
got
some
good
performances.
Unfortunately
today
we
were
not
able
to
bat
the
way
we
wanted
and
the
bowlers
did
well,”
India
captain
Harmanpreet
Kaur
said
later.

Tryon
plonked
her
front
foot
and
exhibited
power
hitting
of
the
highest
order,
repeatedly
targeting
the
arc
between
square
leg
and
mid-wicket.

In
the
end,
the
victory
came
way
more
easily
than
one
had
thought
as
the
stocky
Proteas
middle-order
batter
got
a
lucky
six
when
Pooja
Vastrakar
dropped
a
dolly
at
deep
square
leg
boundary
to
gift
the
opposition
easy
winning
runs.

Earlier,
Deol’s
painstaking
46
off
56
balls
on
a
slow
track
did
more
harm
than
good
as
India
managed
only
109
despite
losing
four
wickets.
With
stylish
Smriti
Mandhana
dismissed
for
nought
and
skipper
Harmanpreet
Kaur
(21)
also
back
in
the
dug-out
just
when
she
was
getting
set,
Deol’s
effort
was
a
below-par
one
as
she
played
a
huge
number
of
dot
balls
which
increased
the
pressure
on
Deepti
Sharma
(16
not
out
off
14
balls),
who
also
couldn’t
do
much
of
the
heavy
lifting.

Worse
still,
there
was
no
effort
from
India
to
force
the
pace
and
Deol
was
happily
playing
the
sheet
anchor
till
she
lost
her
wicket
in
the
final
over.

For
South
Africa,
left-arm
spinner
Nonkululeko
Mlaba
(2/16
in
4
overs)
was
brilliant
in
the
Powerplay
as
a
frustrated
Mandhana
was
bowled
having
failed
to
open
her
account
in
the
previous
seven
deliveries.
She
charged
down
the
track
and
played
all
over
a
delivery
that
disturbed
the
leg
stump.

Another
opener
Jemimah
Rodrigues
(11
off
18
balls)
and
Deol
couldn’t
get
off
the
blocks
against
Mlaba
and
seasoned
pacer
Shabnim
Ismail
(0/9
in
3
overs).
In
between
the
South
African
duo,
they
bowled
25
dot
balls
with
India
scoring
only
19
runs
in
six
Powerplay
overs.

Both
Rodrigues
and
Harmanpreet
were
out
when
they
were
beaten
by
an
away
turn
from
Mlaba
and
leg-spinner
Sune
Luus
with
keeper
Sinalo
Jafta
effecting
smart
stumping.

The
ball
often
didn’t
come
onto
the
bat
and
the
Indian
batters
didn’t
have
the
requisite
pace
on
deliveries
to
work
with.
Such
was
their
plight
that
the
boundary
count
in
20
overs
was
not
even
in
double
digits.
It
was
just
nine.
The
total
dot
ball
count
was
57
(9.3
overs
cumulatively)
with
the
most
consumed
by
Deol.

(With
PTI
inputs)