South Africa women put on yet another commanding performance to beat India by eight wickets in the second T20I at Kingsmead in Durban on Sunday to go 2-0 up in the ongoing five-match series.
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt was lucky with the coin flip for the second time in a row and had no hesitation in putting India into bat. The tourists got off to a steady start. Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana added 22 runs for the opening wicket before Chloe Tryon dismissed Mandhana for 12.
It was a favourable match-up for Mandhana with Tryon turning the ball into her, but she failed to time the shot and picked out the sole fielder on the leg side at square leg. Tryon then dismissed Jemimah Rodrigues (2 off 4) quickly to put India in a spot of bother at 46/2 in five overs. In walked the debutant Anushka Sharma, and she added 53 runs for the third wicket alongside Shafali to steady India’s wobbly innings.
Anushka found (28 off 31) it a tad difficult to deal in boundaries, but Shafali kept the run rate steady at the other end. Player of the Match (POTM) Tryon came back to dismiss Anushka and claim a three-for. Nonkululeko Mlaba struck soon after to get rid of Shafali. Shafali played a fine hand, scoring 57 off 38 at a strike rate of 150.00 and was the only India batter who gave a tough time to the Proteas.
Shafali’s wicket proved a massive loss for India, as she had done the bulk of the scoring. While it was Tryon who provided the breakthroughs up front for the Proteas, Tumi Sekhukhune mopped up the tail to keep India to just 147 in 20 overs. Sekhukhune returned figures of 3/31 and played a massive role alongside Tryon to ensure the hosts didn’t even have to chase a par score.
South Africa make light work of India’s total
The fuel of India’s bowling attack evaporated soon as openers Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus added 106 runs and laid the foundation of a comfortable win. Wolvaardt scored 54 off 34 balls, laced with seven fours and a six. She was the aggressor in the partnership, scoring at a strike rate of 158.82.
Cognizant that they weren’t chasing a big score, Luus took her time and registered a fine fifty. Off-break bowler Shreyanka Patil was the only bowler who got success for India as she dismissed both openers. But the damage was already done. Tazmin Brits (20*) and Annerie Dercksen (12*) helped the hosts scale the total down with 17 balls to spare.
