New Delhi: For a few months now, Harmanpreet Kaur’s India have looked a pale shadow of their bubbling, bristling self that lifted the ODI World Cup five months back. The slide that began in Australia in February where they were blanked 0-3 in the ODIs before losing the only Test by 10 wickets showed no signs of slowing down on Sunday as they suffered their second successive defeat in Durban in the five-match T20I series.
Lax in the field, listless with the bat and toothless with the ball, India were dealt an eight-wicket shellacking by Laura Wolvaardt’s South Africa who chased down India’s 147 without breaking a sweat. The hosts still had 17 balls to spare when Tazmin Brits hit Anushka Sharma through extra cover for the boundary that put India out of their misery.
Asked to bat after Wolvaardt called correctly at the toss, India’s below-par total was down to a telling mix of intelligent bowling, questionable shot selection, and poor execution. From a comfortable 99/2 in the 13th over, India proceeded to lose eight wickets for 48 runs in the remaining seven—15 out of those runs came in the final over, an indicator of the control South Africa had over the India batters.
India’s dramatic, inexplicable collapse nullified a fine 38-ball 57 from opener Shafali Verma, the lone batter who showed the required skills to match her intent. India lost Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues inside the Powerplay, but Verma—playing her 100th T20I—forged a 51-run alliance with debutant Anushka Sharma. The latter’s fall in the 13th over triggered India’s collapse with none of the batters being able to get a move on.
As many as six Indian batters failed to reach double figures with the slow orthodox left-arm spin of the experienced Chloe Tryon accounting for three of India’s top four for a Player of the Match performance. Medium pacer Tumi Sekhukhune also took up three wickets while Nadine de Klerk and Nonkululeko Mlaba returned with a wicket each.
A target of 148 was never going to stretch the strong South African line-up but the clinical ease with which Wolvaardt and Sune Luus went about their task was a treat to watch. The openers raised 106 runs in 12 overs before Wolvaardt (54, 34b) failed to clear Arundhati Reddy at long-on. Luus departed three overs later for a 46-ball 57, leaving Brits and Annerie Dercksen to complete the formalities.
“We didn’t bat well in the last 10 overs in both games,” Kaur said, referring to the lower-order collapse on Friday.
“Bowling-wise also, the Powerplay is not going our way. When you’re not getting the shots, rotating strike is key. Unfortunately, we are not able to do that. We have to stay together and think how to go about the next games,” she added.
The series now moves to Johannesburg with India finding themselves in the must-win scenario and a lot of thinking to do. With T20 World Cup less than two months away, India would look to smoothen the rough edges and rediscover their verve.
Brief scores: India 147 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 57; Chloe Tryon 3/22, Tumi Sekhukhune 3/31). South Africa 148/2 in 17.1 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 54, Suni Luus 57; Shreyanka Patil 2/35). SA won by 8 wickets.