India shattered South Africa’s mettle early in the last day’s session to set up their crushing 10-wicket triumph in the one-off Test in Chennai. On the last day, Nadine de Klerk kept the enthusiastic visitors going, but India continued to chip away.
In the first two sessions, they each took three wickets, with Sneh Rana being the second Indian player to take ten or more in a single game. To keep South Africa in the game, De Klerk batted out 185 balls for her 61, but it did nothing more than postpone the inevitable outcome, which went in India’s advantage.
South Africa was asked to continue, and they started the day significantly behind schedule. However, Sune Luus’s century on Day 3 laid the groundwork for South Africa’s battle, and in Day 4’s second over, Laura Wolvaardt achieved her first Test century to provide consistency.
Deepti Sharma trapped the last leg before she and Marizanne Kapp even added 58 for the third wicket. In the next over, new batsman Delmi Tucker misplayed and drove a Sneh Rana delivery straight to Jemimah Rodrigues at cover.
Then, to prevent any wickets throughout the remainder of the morning session, Wolvaardt found a willing ally in Nadine de Klerk. Nevertheless, Rajeshwari Gayakwad snagged Wolvaardt’s leg earlier, so that only lasted for six overs. Walking backwards, Wolvaardt carried a review with her. In the morning session, South Africa made 70 more runs than they had before losing three wickets.
Before the second session had got underway, South Africa suffered another blow when de Klerk’s batting partner Sinalo Jafta had to retire hurt with cramping. De Klerk then started her mission to resist India for as long as she could.
In the second session, South Africa managed just 34 runs in 29 overs, less than half of their total, but de Klerk gave it her all to try and force a draw for her team. However, India persisted. In this phase of play, they waited patiently for long periods until Pooja Vastrakar struck to remove Annerie Dercksen. The spinner kept his delivery low and encased the batter right in front of him, trapping Dercksen deep in the crease.
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜! 🤩
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) July 1, 2024
Captain @ImHarmanpreet receives the @IDFCFIRSTBank Trophy 🏆#TeamIndia win the #INDvSA Test by 10 wickets 💪
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/4EU1Kp7wJe pic.twitter.com/wXHDzn6ZSh
Tumi Sekhukhune batted with de Klerk for 13.4 overs, scoring just 14 runs, but the former sealed up this stand with a gift. When de Klerk called for a single, Sekhukhune answered very slowly and eventually ran out of time. Jafta returned to the middle after this wicket, and she almost shared company with de Klerk till the end of the session.
However, Rana came back to sabotage South Africa’s effort at a blockathon once more, tossing up a ball that Jafta poked and nibbled at. Before the tea break, South Africa was eight down thanks to a sharp, diving one-handed catch made by averted Shubha Satheesh at first slip.
When Shafali Verma turned sharply to get past Masabata Klaas’s defence, the ninth-wicket stand involving de Klerk and Klaas lasted for almost eight overs into the final session. De Klerk started to take risks with her arms with just one wicket remaining, reaching her half-century when Gayakwad took her for 61.
South Africa put up quite a fight after losing in just 84.3 overs in the first innings, managing to survive for 154.4 overs, but even that only gave them a 34-run advantage, which India easily captured in 9.2 overs.
In a few days, the attention will switch to the T20Is, but for now, Chepauk, where women’s Test cricket is being played for the first time since 1976, was the pinnacle of cricket. Now, on Friday, July 5, 2024, Indian women will play South Africa in a three-game Twenty20 International series. Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium will host all of the games.
Brief scores: India vs South Africa One-off Test
India 603/6 decl. (Shafali Verma 205, Smriti Mandhana 149, Richa Ghosh 86, Harmanpreet Kaur 69; Delmi Tucker 2-141) & 37/0 (Shafali Verma 24*) beat South Africa 266 (Marizanne Kapp 74, Sune Luus 65; Sneh Rana 8-77, Deepti Sharma 2-47) & 373 (Sune Luus 109, Laura Wolvaardt 122, Nadine de Klerk 61; Rajeshwari Gayakwad 2-55, Deepti Sharma 2-95, Sneh Rana 2-111 ) by 10 wickets.
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