South Africa secured a three-wicket victory over India in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 thriller at the Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.
Skipper Laura Wolvaardt’s half-century, combined with Nadine de Klerk’s unbeaten 84, ensured South Africa secured an enthralling victory over the hosts.
Chasing 252, the Proteas struck the winning runs on the fifth delivery of the penultimate over, when De Klerk smashed Amanjot Kaur for a huge six over deep mid-wicket, giving her side their second successive win in the mega event.
However, South Africa had a contrasting start to their innings as Kaur and Kranti Gaud took an early lead with the ball, reducing them to 18/2 within six overs.
After the double setback, experienced all-rounder Marizanne Kapp (20) linked up with skipper Wolvaardt for an anchoring 39-run partnership for the third wicket before being outwitted by Sneh Rana in the 14th over.
The Proteas then lost two more wickets at regular intervals and were consequently reduced to 81/5 in 19.4 overs.
Meanwhile, Wolvaardt remained steadfast through the collapse, eventually finding subtle support at the other end in the form of Chloe Tryon.
Wolvaardt and Tryon led the recovery by putting together 61 runs for the sixth-wicket partnership, which culminated in the dismissal of the opener in the 36th over.
The captain remained top scorer with 70 off 111 deliveries, including eight fours.
Walking into bat at number eight, De Klerk launched a counter-attack on the Indian bowlers with a swashbuckling half-century and eventually led South Africa to a hard-earned three-wicket win with seven balls to spare.
The right-handed batsman top-scored with an unbeaten 84 off just 54 deliveries, studded with eight fours and five sixes. She was adequately supported by Tryon, who contributed handily with a 66-ball 49, with five boundaries.
For India, Rana and Gaud took two wickets each, while Shree Charani, Deepti Sharma and Kaur managed one each.
Batting first, the home side amassed 251 runs before being bowled out in 49.1 overs.
India got off to a good start to their innings, with their opening pair of Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal putting on 55 runs before the former was dismissed by Nonkululeko Mlaba in the 11th over.
Mandhana scored 23 off 32 deliveries with the help of a six and a four.
Her dismissal led to a collapse of the middle order, with India losing a further six wickets for just 98 runs in 178 deliveries and consequently falling to 153/7 in 40 overs.
After the slump, wicketkeeper-batsman Richa Ghosh launched an astonishing recovery with a blistering half-century, top-scoring with a 77-ball 94, peppered with 11 fours and four sixes.
She also shared a crucial 88-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Sneh Rana, who contributed niftily with a brisk 33 off 24 deliveries until she fell victim to Marizanne Kapp in the 48th over.
Chloe Tryon led the bowling load for South Africa with 3/32 in her 10 overs, followed by Nonkululeko Mlaba, Nadine de Klerk and Kapp with two each, while Tumi Sekhukhune struck one.
The three-wicket win moved South Africa to fourth position in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 standings as they now have four points in three matches, while India remained third due to superior net run percentage.
