On a day when the young and the experienced combined forces, India made a positive start to their final run to the Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa. Debutant Amanjot Kaur and the experienced Deepti Sharma rescued India from a precarious situation, helping them to a match-winning score of 147. Despite being 69 for 5 in the 12th over, the pair's efforts enabled India to amass 44 runs in the last four overs, ultimately leading to a successful outcome.
After being inserted on a slowish surface, India openers Smriti Mandhana, standing in for the unwell Harmanpreet, and Yastika Bhatia regularly employed their feet to inject some pace into the game. Mandhana managed to hit Ayabonga Khaka through square leg after charging down the pitch, but fell a ball later after attempting to hit over mid-off.
At the conclusion of the powerplay, India were 29 for 1. Harleen Deol then greeted left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba with a slicing drive through backward point and short third after confidently advancing down the wicket. However, she was run-out the following delivery after a momentary pause on the second run. Jemimah Rodrigues was then declared caught behind down leg, after failing to connect with a pull shot off Mlaba.
Yashika Bhatia who got the chance to play in absence of Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh made the most of it. After being given a reprieve on two, Bhatia quickly got a feel for the surface, moving around the crease to disrupt the bowlers' lengths. She welcomed seamer Nadine de Klerk with a well-timed heave through midwicket, and then moved across her stumps to scoop a full ball from Masabata Klaas over fine leg for a massive six. On the next ball, she pummeled a short ball through square leg for another boundary.
Just as she seemed to be gaining momentum, offspinner Delmi Tucker's delivery deflected off her back pad and onto her stumps. Devika Vaidya soon followed, thanks to a spectacular diving catch by Tucker at backward point, leaving India in a precarious position at 69 for 5.
By the time Deepti fell in the last over, she had managed to add 76 off 50 balls with Amanjot - the fourth-highest partnership for the sixth wicket in women's T20Is. This invaluable contribution helped India get close to 150 and set the stage for a thrilling finish.
In the end, the Indian spinners capitalized on the dry, slow surface in the hot and humid conditions to stifle South Africa and seal a 27-run victory.
Brief scores: India 147 for 6 (Amanjot 41*, Bhatia 35, Deepti 33, Mlaba 2-15) beat South Africa 120 for 9 (Luus 29, Tryon 26, Vaidya 2-19) by 27 runs
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