India vs South Africa Laura Wolvaardt-Marizanne Kapp, Smriti Mandhana-Harmanpreet Kaur
India register a thrilling win. (Image: BCCI)

India defeated South Africa by a thrilling 4-run margin in the second One-Day International to secure the series victory in Bengaluru on June 19. India amassed a massive 325 runs thanks to centuries from Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur. South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp both made stunning centuries but those went in vain as Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar shared two wickets each to hold South Africa to 321 runs.

In one of the most thrilling 50-over cricket matches ever, two tons were scored by two different players from each team. On the final ball of the game at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Laura Wolvaardt, the captain of the Proteas, needed to score five runs to win, but she was unable to complete the stroke with a smash of 135*.

South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl first welcoming India to face their attack spearheaded by Ayabonga Khaka with a fantastic maiden first over. Masabata Klaas, delivering the second over too continued to put pressure on the opening duo of India, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma. Khaka came up with another maiden in the third over followed by Klaas’ consistent bowling giving just one more run in the fourth over.

And Verma was releasing some pressure in the sixth over with her first boundary which was contemplated well by Mandhana’s boundary in the very next over. The powerplay came to an end with Verma’s second boundary and Mandhana’s single to put the scoreboard at 28 for no loss.

Verma looked in stable touch with her bat but she had to depart much earlier in the game once again struggling to last long and build a solid foundational inning for her team thus handing her wicket over to Klaas in the 12th over. But Mandhana retrieved the ask for runs and covered for the early setback of Verma with a banging boundary in the following over.

Dayalan Hemalatha and Mandhana screwed up and limited themselves to singles until the former got her first boundary of the inning in the 17th over bowled by Khaka. Mandhana geared up for two back-to-back boundaries in the 18th over and she was accompanied by Hemlatha’s first maximum of the match in the 20th over to get the scoreboard reach 75 for the loss of 1 for India.

And the duo was up on the bowling attack of South Africa with Hemlatha’s second maximum of the inning cheered well by a famishing four from Mandhana’s bat. But the Proteas had it all to get the much-needed breakthrough from the ball of Klass as Hemlatha succumbed at 24 off 41.

Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur smashed scintillating centuries for India

In-form Smriti Mandhana, kept the wheel rotating at her pace with the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur as she punched two boundaries down the ground in the 25th over and hooked her first maximum in the 27th before Kaur joined the party with her first boundary in the 29th over’s fifth ball bowled by Sune Luus and another to Nadine de Klerk for a lucky four, getting an inside edge just past the stumps and to the wicketkeeper’s left.

The duo kept some calm for the next two overs and only dealt in rotating strikes until Mandhana pounded on her usual behaviour to hit a boundary through mid-on as Khaka missed to get hold of the ball. And she further swayed her bat to storm of incessant boundaries; one in the 35th over and three consecutive in the following thus putting the score at 182 for the loss of 2.

ALSO READ: IND vs SA: Smriti Mandhana, Asha Sobhana Star As India Beat South Africa Convincingly

Kaur was moving steadily with timely singles and doubles and getting over the loose balls to bring boundaries as she brought one in the 37th over bowled by Luus and another in Klass’ following over, and that saw the record-breaking ton by Mandhana in the next over with a single as she made it up right there with Mithali Raj as the joint-highest century-maker for India in women’s ODIs.

Mandhana fueled her knock further with a scooped six in the 41st over by Luus on a filthy high full toss, leaving the Proteas clueless of getting a much-needed wicket to bring a break in the looking-to-be high-scoring inning. Kaur was also past her fifty by now and she too geared up to bring more runs, this time in the name of a boundary, as they were running with 8 wickets in hand.

The 44th over saw a masterclass from both the batters as it started with Kaur’s four and a massive six and concluded with Mandhana’s maestro-filled two boundaries to bring up the 150-run partnership. But Mandhana had to finally depart in the 46th over bowled by Nonkululeko Mlaba only after punishing her for the last boundary of her knock.

New down Richa Ghosh too, knowing the conditions of the final over, well-off stability with the runs and 7 wickets in hand, went for a fantastic four only on the third ball she faced which was contemplated well by her skipper as Kaur went on for another six. This somehow resulted in Ghosh’s boosted shots that brought a four and her first maximum in the 48th over followed by Kaur’s boundary in the same over.

After a boundary hit by Ghosh in the 49th over, Kaur took the responsibility in the skipper-style to conclude the inning with a couple of boundaries and a final six of the inning thus following her vice-captain to another ODI century and freezing the scoreboard at 325 with a single for the loss of just 3.

South Africa had a real mountain to climb in front of the Indian bowling attack commenced by Pooja Vastrakar giving just a single. Laura Wolvaardt opened her arms to get her and her team’s first boundary in the second over contemplated well by Tazmin Brits’ boundary but Arundhati Reddy’s early breakthrough in the game provided much strength to India as she bowled Brits out at just 5 off 11.

Wolvaardt and Anneke Bosch played it through the pressure and were able to release some early pressure with two boundaries each in the sixth and seventh over respectively. Wolvaardt concluded the powerplay with one more boundary from her bucket along with Bosch putting the scoreboard at 52 for the loss of 1 but Bosch too couldn’t last longer as she had to make her way towards the dugout laying her wicket at the hands of Deepti Sharma.

Fresh down the order, Luus gathered some power to get a couple of boundaries, one in the thirteenth and another in the fourteenth over before getting succumbed to Mandhana’s breathtaking delivery in the following over but Marizanne Kapp walked in to challenge Mandhana with a boundary on the very next ball after the wicket and stepping further down the crease to hit the first maximum of the chase in Mandhana’s next over.

Kapp continued to sway her arms in her style and helped Proteas reach 95 for the loss of 3 after 20 overs until the rotation of strike between the wickets saw a contemplated rise with a boundary each by Kapp and Wolvaardt in the 24th over. Pooja Vastrakar’s fifth over had to struggle a lot as Kapp went for two back-to-back boundaries followed by a hammering four by Wolvaardt on the last ball of the over.

ALSO READ: Smriti Mandhana Scores Century, Joins Mithali Raj In Elite List

By the end of the 30th over, both the batters were well past their fifties in a fine show of cricket with the rotation of strike and quick running between the wickets to get the scoreboard moving incessantly until Kapp moved up to hit two more boundaries in the 33rd over bowled by Radha Yadav before she could make her hands at a gigantic six in the 35th over to put the chase at 178 for the loss of 3.

Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp scored swashbuckling centuries for South Africa

Laura Wolvaardt had it with her willow too supporting Marizanne Kapp in all ways possible and this time with a strengthening boundary in the following over. The 37th over could only get five singles and a double before Kapp, owing to the asking rate, went on further to collect a couple of boundaries to get near the target and closing the 38th over at 204; and the 39th got another one of Kapp and Wolvaardt’s two more boundaries.

Wolvaardt was pumped up by this time as they were advancing steadily towards the target and she commenced the 42nd over with a banging six off Shafali Verma’s over followed by Kapp’s last six of the chase as she finally met her dismissal at Deepti Sharma’s hands after an unforgettable knock of 114 off just 94 balls. And as the skipper reached her century with a single, she made her way for another pumped-up maximum on the third ball of the 45th over followed by a four more in the same over.

Nadine de Klerk too joined hands with her skipper to lift the score up and keep the asking rate in control with her balanced shot bringing her first boundary of the chase in the 47th over after one from Wolvaardt’s bat in the previous over. And the skipper looked enormously giant with her back-to-back smashes, this time a boundary on the third ball of the 48th over followed by a massive six to get the chase past the 300 mark.

India couldn’t have thought the match going this far and spear-to-spear but the Proteas skipper made it happen. With four singles, two wides and a six from Klerk’s bat right on point brought South Africa much closer to the target as they needed 11 off the last six balls.

But as dramatic as cricket is, Wolvaardt got a single on the first ball of the last over, then a famishing four by Klerk on the second and then a shockingly devastating two wickets in two balls in the names of Klerk (28 off 22) and Nondumiso Shangase (0 off 1), and finally a dot ball faced by Wolvaardt after a bye-single by Meike de Ridder to freeze the scoreboard at 321 for the loss of 6.

Brief scores: India vs South Africa 2nd ODI

India 325/3 in 50 overs (Smriti Mandhana 136, Harmanpreet Kaur 103*; Nonkululeko Mlaba 2-51) beat South Africa 321/6 in 50 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 135*, Marizanne Kapp 114; Deepti Sharma 2-56, Pooja Vastrakar 2-54) by 4 runs.

Click Here to get the latest news related to Women’s Cricket. You can also check about Match predictions here. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more updates.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here