Nadine de Klerk powers Proteas to comeback win over India in Women’s World Cup

The Proteas claimed a stunning, tightly fought victory over India in their ICC Women’s World Cup game played in Visakhapatnam, India, on Thursday evening.

Chasing 251, the victory looked unlikely until near the end, when a career-defining, undefeated 84 off 54 balls by Nadine de Klerk guided the team home.

Coming in at number eight, after the dismissal of the Proteas’ star batter and captain, Laura Wolvaardt (70 off 111), and with the team needing 109 runs to win off 13.1 overs, a win looked improbable.

But 25-year-old De Klerk had other ideas, striking the ball cleanly from the get-go. She clubbed five sixes and eight fours in her highest career effort.

She smashed two enormous sixes in the penultimate over, bowled by the seamer Amanjot Kaur, to clinch the victory for South Africa.

Two overs earlier, the Proteas had needed 40 runs off 24 deliveries. Three deliveries later, they required just 24 runs to win after De Klerk slammed Kranti Goud for two massive sixes and a four.

India employed what looked like a bit of gamesmanship when wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh went down “injured” to halt the onslaught and bring a brief pause to the match.

It worked for the next delivery, which was a dot, but De Klerk continued her bombardment in the following over, slamming two fours from the off-spin of Deepti Sharma to bring the equation to 12 runs off the final two overs. De Klerk finished the match with seven deliveries to spare.

It was the fifth-highest chase in ICC Women’s World Cup history.

Stuttering start

South Africa’s chase didn’t start nearly as well as it ended.

Goud dismissed the red-hot Tazmin Brits (nought off three) with an inspired caught and bowled.

The ball rocketed off Brits’ blade as she stepped down the crease and drove a full ball solidly, and was plucked out of the air one-handedly by Goud.

The Proteas’ top-order wilted under the pressure as Suné Luus (five off nine), Marizanne Kapp (20 off 25) and Anneke Bosch (one off two) fell in quick succession. This left South Africa scrambling on 58 for four in the 15th over.

Wicketkeeper Sinalo Jafta (14 off 20) didn’t last long either. The rearguard effort came from skipper Wolvaardt and the experienced Chloe Tryon (49 off 66), who steadied the ship and gave South Africa a fighting chance.

A fighting chance was all De Klerk needed. She first partnered with Tryon for a 69-run partnership off 60 deliveries and then, when the vice-captain was trapped LBW by Sneh Rana, steered the team with tailender Ayabonga Khaka at the other end.

The pair shared a 41-run partnership off 18 deliveries, with Khaka contributing just one run.

Sloppy bowling

South Africa chased more than they should have after a Richa Ghosh (94 off 77) rearguard masterclass — like De Klerk, she came in at No 8 — took the World Cup hosts to a competitive total.

The Proteas initially strangled India with superb economical bowling and great fielding.

The pressure mounted as wickets tumbled — five in the space of 26 overs for only 102 runs.

Brits and Wolvaardt, fielding at point and cover, respectively, were excellent in increasing the pressure with athletic stops in the field.

India’s superstar batter Smriti Mandhana (23 off 32) was the first to fall after initially being bogged down by the seam bowling of Khaka and Kapp.

It was Nonkululeko Mlaba who made the breakthrough, using the flight and guile of her left-arm finger spin to lure Mandhana into playing a big shot. She was tidily caught at long-on by Luus.

Harleen Deol (13 off 23) was the next victim of Mlaba’s wily spin, dismissed by a ball-of-the-tournament contender that drifted in from around the wicket before spinning away from the bat and crashing into off-stump.

Tryon took a leaf out of Mlaba’s book with her own left-arm spin, dismissing the potentially dangerous middle-order of Harmanpreet Kaur (nine off 24) and Jemimah Rodrigues (nought off four).

The pair of spinners combined for three wickets, conceding only 78 runs in the 20 overs they shared.

Before that, opener Pratika Rawal (37 off 56) was outfoxed by a slower ball from Tumi Sekhukhune.

Shift in momentum

But the wheels fell off from there as South Africa conceded 149 runs in the next 23.5 overs before India were bowled out with one ball to spare.

Wicketkeeper-batter Ghosh lit up the ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium, giving the previously subdued crowd something to cheer.

Ghosh used brute force and harboured the strike to take India to a competitive total. She bludgeoned four sixes and 11 fours in her excellent knock as she guided the tail.

Rana (33 off 24) served as a capable support.

India took all the momentum into their bowling innings as they smacked 98 runs off the final 10 overs.

South Africa’s previously superb fielding also began to fall apart.

De Klerk dropped Ghosh off the bowling of Sekhukhune when she was on 76 off 68 in the 48th over. It was a difficult chance, diving forward from the long-on boundary.

Kapp found the edge of tailender Rana’s bat twice in the next over, but both flew past wicketkeeper Jafta.

Two balls later, it was Anneke Bosch’s turn to drop the big-hitting Ghosh.

De Klerk was the most expensive bowler for South Africa, conceding 52 runs in 6.5 overs, although she did collect two wickets to go with it. She more than made up for it with her batting, however, almost single-handedly winning the game for her country. DM 

South Africa’s next Cricket World Cup match is against Bangladesh on Monday.