Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur led India’s batting onslaught against South Africa to set up a series-clinching four-run victory in the second ODI in Bengaluru on Wednesday (June 19). Mandhana (136 off 120) registered her second successive three-figure score, and also her highest in ODI cricket, striking 18 fours and 2 sixes in her innings. Harmanpreet hit nine fours and three sixes en route to an unbeaten 103 off 88 balls. Their massive 171-run stand set the platform for a total of 325/3, India’s first 300-plus total at home and their third highest in ODIs. South Africa were up for the fight, with Marizanne Kapp (114 off 94) and Laura Wolvaardt (135* off 135) putting on a valiant 184-run partnership for the fourth wicket to get South Africa close but they fell short in the end thanks to a fine last over under pressure by Pooja Vastrakar, who defended 10.
Asked to bat in overcast conditions, India got off to a slow start, scoring only 28 runs in the first powerplay. Ayabonga Khaka bowled a maiden each to Mandhana and Shafali Verma while Masabata Klaas conceded only two runs off her first two overs, with India managing just 4 runs in the first five overs. Mandhana took 17 deliveries to get off the mark while Shafali, who had scored only 3 off her first 16 balls, struck the first four of the match when she pulled a short ball from Klaas in the sixth over. Mandhana managed a pull off Khaka for her first boundary as India got a move on after a slow start.
The openers added 38 runs before Nonkululeko Mlaba ended the partnership in the 12th over by removing Shafali, who top-edged a slogsweep. Mandhana was joined by Dayalan Hemalatha and they put on a brisk 62-run stand for the second wicket. Hemalatha had a couple of lucky breaks and got off to a slow start as well, getting only 3 runs off 23 deliveries before striking a four off Khaka in the 17th over to help India past 50. Mandhana, meanwhile, was batting fluently, scoring two successive fours off Mlaba before rain forced the players off the field for a brief period. Hemalatha got going after the break, hitting a couple of sixes off Nondumiso Shangase. The partnership, however, ended soon after India reached 100 in the 23rd over, when Hemalatha fell to Klaas for 24.
The wicket got India’s two best batters to the crease at the start of the 24th over and they stayed together until the 46th over, doing a lot of damage to South Africa in the process. Mandhana hit two fours in an over off Anneke Bosch as she brought up a 67-ball fifty while Harmanpreet’s first boundary shot was a six over wide long-on off Sune Luus. Both batters found the fence regularly, with Mandhana scoring a hat-trick of fours in an over from Shangase. Harmanpreet also had a reprieve in the 40s when Klaas put down a catch off her own bowling, as India reached 200 in the 38th over, and the third wicket pair raised a century partnership. Mandhana went past 100, Harmanpreet crossed 50, and India’s batting went into overdrive in the death overs.
Mandhana cleared long-on for a six off Luus before both batters took on Klaas – a four and a six for Harmanpreet, and two fours for Mandhana helped India get 19 runs off the 44th over. Khaka conceded 17 off the next, with Mandhana scoring three fours. But the left-hander’s outing came to an end in the 46th over when she failed in her attempt to go over cover, getting dismissed by Mlaba. Harmanpreet was on 75 at that stage, and she raced towards the three figure mark, with Richa Ghosh also sending the bowlers on a leather hunt at the other end.
Richa struck a six and a four off Klaas in the 48th over and the Indian captain also hit a boundary in the same over to bring up India’s 300. Mieke de Ridder missed a stumping chance in the final over and Harmanpreet capitalised on it, scoring four, six and four off Mlaba off the next three deliveries, with the third shot helping her bring up a 100 off 87 balls. It was an excellent finish for India, who managed 118 in the last 10 overs.
Wolvaardt and Kapp struck classy centuries to get the game down to the wire ©BCCI
South Africa had an early setback in the chase as Tazmin Brits was bowled by debutant Arundhati Reddy. Wolvaardt and Anneke Bosch batted confidently, hitting regular boundaries off the Indian pacers to ensure South Africa got off to a positive start in the first powerplay. Wolvaardt struck two successive fours of Arundhati while Bosch did the same off Vastrakar and India also ended up losing a review for an lbw shout against the South Africa skipper. The spinners were then brought on and they slowed it down but Deepti was unlucky not to pick up the wicket of Bosch as Asha Sobhana put down the catch, with the visitors moving to 52/1 after 10 overs.
Jemimah Rodrigues put in a fine effort but couldn’t hold on to the ball leaping at cover, off Radha Yadav’s bowling, as Wolvaardt survived. But the second wicket stand, worth 40 runs, was ended by Deepti as she got Bosch to miscue one to Rodrigues at cover, and finished the over with a wicket maiden. Bowling for the first time in international cricket, Mandhana, with her medium pace, accounted for Luus who edged the ball to the ‘keeper attempting a cut. She was, however, smashed for a six by Kapp in her second over, and left the field after her second over.
South Africa reached 100 in the 22nd over but the required rate crept close to eight an over, needing the pair of Wolvaardt and Kapp to press on. And they did. Both batters struck a four apiece off Radha before three fours came in the 27th over, bowled by Vastrakar, the last boundary helping Wolvaardt bring up a 59-ball fifty. Kapp then went past fifty and hit two fours off Radha in the 33rd over, raising the century stand. Kapp also hit a six off Deepti to help the team to 178/3 in 35 overs, but India were still ahead as the visitors needed 148 off the last 15 overs.
With the required rate going past 10, Kapp and Wolvaardt struck timely boundaries – two fours for Kapp off Asha in the 38th and three boundaries off Arundhati (one for Kapp and two for Wolvaardt) transferred the pressure on India. But the hosts tightened it up through a four-run over by Radha, leaving South Africa with an equation of 103 off 60 balls. Kapp reached her third ODI hundred, off 85 deliveries, with a couple off Deepti, and India also lost their second review for a leg-before appeal. Wolvaardt, who had slowed down, nearly handed a catch in the deep off Shafali but Arundhati couldn’t hold on to the ball and parried it across the fence. Kapp also went over the midwicket fence off Deepti for her third six but fell soon after. Only eight runs came off Deepti’s over while Radha gave away just 7 in the next, leaving South Africa needing 68 off 36.
The onus was on Wolvaardt to lead South Africa through and, after getting her eighth ODI hundred with a single, she struck a six and a four off Asha. The equation was 38 off 18 and it became 23 off 12 as Wolvaardt hit a four and a six off Vastrakar. Reddy kept it tight for the bulk of the 49th over despite bowling two wides, but a six by Nadine de Klerk brought it to 11 off the last over. Wolvaardt took a single after which de Klerk scored a boundary. But Vastrakar held her nerve, picking up the wickets of de Klerk and Nondumiso Shangase, and just a bye came off the last two balls as India prevailed in a thriller to take an unassailable lead in the series.
Brief scores: 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.
