Resilient Nadine de Klerk fights through the spin challenge to make India bat again before the hosts complete a hard-fought 10-wicket victory against South Africa.
The visitors, South Africa displayed solid fight, determination and resilience after being asked to follow on. South Africa ended the third day’s play with 105 runs behind India’s first innings total.
The overnight duo of Marizanne Kapp and skipper Laura Wolvaardt resumed and marched along nicely to take their side past the 250-run mark, and took the lead down under the three-figure mark (73 runs). Deepti Sharma picked up the wicket of Marizanne Kapp to break the 58-run stand, providing the 3rd breakthrough for India. Delmi Tucker soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 4th breakthrough for India.
Nadine de Klerk joined skipper Laura Wolvaardt at the crease and the duo failed to stitch a substantial partnership as they lost the wicket of their skipper Laura Wolvaardt. Rajeshwari Gayakwad picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper to provide the fifth breakthrough for her side. Skipper Laura Wolvaardt completed her maiden century in the red-ball format before getting dismissed.
Wicket-keeper batter Sinalo Jafta joined Nadine de Klerk at the crease and the duo continued to fight before Sinalo Jafta had to retire hurt courtesy of the discomfort she experienced while batting. Annerie Dercksen replaced the wicket-keeper batter and the crease but the duo failed to form a substantial partnership. The visitors, South Africa inched closer to the lead before losing a couple of wickets in quick succession.
South Africa found themselves on 334/8 in the 141st over of the innings. Masabata Klaas joined Nadine de Klerk at the crease and the duo took South Africa into the lead, ensuring India would need to come out bat again. The duo stitched a 20-run partnership for the 9th wicket. Shafali Verma cleaned up Masabata Klaas to provide the 9th breakthrough for India. Nonkululeko Mlaba joined Nadine de Klerk at the crease and the duo stitched a 16-run partnership for the 10th wicket.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad cleaned up Nadine de Klerk to wrap up the South African innings on 373 in 154.4 overs, with South Africa leading India by 36 runs. Nadine de Klerk completed her maiden half-century in the red-ball format before getting dismissed. India needed 37 runs to win the one-off Test match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk, Chennai. Skipper Laura Wolvaardt (122 off 314 balls), Sune Luus (109 off 203 balls), Nadine de Klerk (61 off 185 balls), and Marizanne Kapp (31 off 82 balls) were the top performers with the bat for South Africa.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad (30.4-12-55-2), Deepti Sharma (45-10-95-2), Sneh Rana (40-12-111-2), Pooja Vastrakar (16-7-35-1), and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (10-0-31-1) were the top performers with the ball for India. Chasing a target of 37, Shubha Satheesh stepped out alongside Shafali Verma to open the innings. The duo wiped off the target in just 56 balls to seal a hard-fought victory by 10 wickets.
The 30-year-old right-arm off-spinner Sneh Rana was awarded the Player of the Match for her brilliant performance across both the innings ([25.3-4-77-8], and [40-12-111-2]) with the ball, returning with sensational match figures (65.3-16-188-10) in her spell. She becomes only the 2nd Indian bowler to pick up 10 wickets in a match after former Indian legendary pacer Jhulan Goswami (10/78) in her spell. She had done it against England at Taunton in 2006.
