India Women Fall Short in Second T20I Against South Africa

India's women's cricket team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, faced off against South Africa in the second T20I match of their three-match series in Chennai on July 7. South Africa had won the first match, giving them a 1-0 lead in the series.

India made one change to their lineup, bringing in wicketkeeper-batter Uma Chetry in place of Richa Ghosh, who had suffered a concussion in the previous match. South Africa, on the other hand, fielded an unchanged eleven.

India won the toss and elected to bowl first. The South African openers, Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits, got off to a solid start, putting on a 40-run partnership before Wolvaardt was dismissed by Deepti Sharma for 21. Brits continued to anchor the innings, scoring a well-paced 44 off 40 balls.

Marizanne Kapp and Chloe Tryon then took over the scoring duties, adding 46 runs for the third wicket. Kapp played a blistering knock of 34 off 22 balls, while Tryon contributed with a steady 22 off 25 balls.

Nadine de Klerk and Anneke Bosch provided some late fireworks, scoring 18 and 16 runs respectively, to help South Africa post a competitive total of 147/6 in their allotted 20 overs.

In response, India's batting lineup struggled to get going. Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana were dismissed cheaply, leaving India reeling at 12/2. Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma tried to steady the ship, but both fell in quick succession, leaving India in a precarious position at 43/4.

Harmanpreet Kaur and Pooja Vastrakar then put on a brief partnership of 26 runs, but both were dismissed within a span of three overs, leaving India's hopes hanging by a thread.

Arundhati Reddy and S Sajana showed some resistance in the lower order, but their efforts were not enough as India fell short by 27 runs, losing the match by 120/9.

South Africa's Ayabonga Khaka was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3/19 in her four overs. Nonkululeko Mlaba and Sinalo Jafta also chipped in with two wickets each.

With this victory, South Africa took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The final match of the series will be played on July 9 in Chennai.

Tags: #cricket, #womenscricket, #India, #SouthAfrica, #T20I