The visitors completed their third most successful chase to record their first T20I series win over India.
South Africa Women 159 of 4 (Lee 70, Wolvaardt 53 *) Indian women 158 by 4 (Verma 47, Ghosh 44 *) by six gates
The South African women completed their third most successful chase to record their first T20I series win over India, with a thrilling last ball victory for a 2-0 series lead in Lucknow. The six-field margin belies how close this match was.
South Africa needed 43 30-ball runs when its best hitter Lizelle Lee was ejected, and then required 19 10-ball runs when its most experienced player, Mignon du Preez, was out. It took nine runs from the last delivery, six from the last two balls and one from the final delivery. Laura Wolvaardt took them home and recorded her third half century of T20I in the process.
India posted their 18th total of 150 or more and would have been disappointed by their inability to defend them, given that they have done so on nine of the 12 previous occasions. Their field of field disappointed them again, with three catches and several field errors.
The no-ball
Arundhati Reddy was tasked with pitching the final, with nine runs to defend. Her first pitch was a low full pitch that Nadine de Klerk hit through the midwicket for a single. His second was a great yorker that Wolvaardt missed. His third was another full pitch, but high, and he was hit mid-wicket deep for a single. He then pitched a full delivery that De Klerk pitched long-term, but fell well short of the fielder. So far so good. South Africa had scored three runs on the first four balls and needed six of the three. Then Reddy threw a full shot over the waist that Wolvaardt threw halfway down the wicket for two. It was called a no-ball and South Africa only needed three of two. Wolfvaardt found two runs on the fifth ball and rocked wildly on the last, which came closer to the short, thin leg for the series-winning run.
Lee leads
This trip can hardly get any better for Lee, who was the top run scorer in the ODI and has translated that form into the shorter format, where there were some concerns about her recent performances. Lee had not scored more than 25 runs in a T20 against a team ranked in the top 10 since South Africa’s last trip to India in 2019. Between then and before today’s game, Lee had hit in 11 innings of T20, and before this had scored. 217 runs at an average of 19.27. His 70 in this game has raised him to 23.92 of his last 12 innings and 25.28 overall.
He showed his intention from the second ball when he hit Reddy through the covers for four and followed up with well-placed sweeps against Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma. But it wasn’t just the side of the leg that favored Lee. A key feature of his hitting at Lucknow has been the way he has also drilled the offside. He served fifty of 34 balls and then released his arms to add 20 more runs of the next 11 balls.
Some moments of magic but three missed opportunities
Lee’s tickets were peanuts with no chances. He was 30 when he beat Radha Yadav and Richa Ghosh, running from the deep square and let the opportunity slip from his grasp. Ghosh knocked Lee down again, in ’60, when he drove Gayakward into the air for cover and, although it required a jump to get there, Ghosh managed to get to the ball but couldn’t hold. Gayakwad couldn’t be too upset. He dropped a ball from his own bowling alley when Wolvaardt, at number 2, returned a ball to him as Gayakwad crouched down, but he couldn’t get his fingers around it.
In the midst of all that, India had two field elements to be proud of. In the 10th over, Lee led Harleen Deol down the long run, where Jemima Rodrigues made a sliding save before passing the ball to Deepti Sharma as Lee and Luus attempted to complete a second run. Deepti’s direct hit on the non-forward end caught Luus close to his ground and ended with a second 58-run wicket between Lee and Luus. And then at change 16, Yadav took a good catch at his own bowling alley to fire Lee, who made an effort attempt in the air. Yadav pedaled backward, grabbed the cup-shaped latch upside down, and fell onto his back while holding it with one hand. This is the 25th inning in a row that Yadav has taken a window, and it was also his 50th inning in T20I.
Sweet 17
The future of India hitting was shown at the top and back of their innings through the 17-year-olds Shafali Verma and Ghosh. Verma prepared the hosts with a fearless display against short ball, in particular, and faced Shabnim Ismail, landing her second over for 12 runs. Verma’s inning shot came from De Klerk, who missed the length and launched it straight up. Verma got ahead of the fifth installment of De Klerk’s first over, hitting through the line and sending it long for six. Ghosh got into the fold after India had lost two wickets for 7 runs and their scoring rate was starting to stutter and got them going by hitting three limits off Luus. He was also unafraid of Ismail and sent the penultimate ball of the innings midway through the game for four. Ghosh would have been looking at an international first half-century after the last two installments, but he missed a jerk and was hit by a slower ball to finish with a career-best 44 *.
Bosch’d
Anneke Bosch has had a fabulous tour so far, but she wouldn’t have been happy with the way things went in this match. Her first call to action came when 26-year-old Verma, Nonkululekho Mlaba, and high-level Bosch, running from afar, spilled the opportunity. She was called in to launch the next one and her first two deliveries were short and both were sent to the limit by Deol. Although Bosch bounced back when Deol holed long-term, his three overs cost 26 runs and he couldn’t make up for that with the bat. She was thrown when she missed a sweep from Gayakwad in the second substitution.
Firdose Moonda is a correspondent for ESPNcricinfo in South Africa
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