Women's World Cup: South Africa knocks India out of semi-finals race in a last-ball thriller

The unhappy finish could wind up the spectacular careers of the two greatest Indian cricketers-  Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami. The end of the match saw melancholic silence across the Indian camp. They fought hard till the last ball, but the penultimate no-ball from Deepti in the final overdrew the curtains of moving ahead in the series.

Top-order anchored the team to 274

The day began well for India with their bat as the openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma set the stage right for the team to follow. Shafali Verma's 50 came up in the 91-run partnership with Smriti Mandhana off 91 balls. Shafali's run-out wicket took away a little momentum from the team, putting them on the back foot for a while. The second important partnership came between Mithali Raj and Smriti Mandhana. They stitched 80-runs off 93 balls as Mandhana reached her total of 73. The skipper had a magnificent innings of 68 runs, whereas Harmanpreet Kaur fell short of 2 runs to reach her fifty. Despite such a strong anchoring start, India did not have that high-scoring finishing touch to their batting. The opposition controlled the scoreboard by giving away just 51 runs in the last 10 overs to restrict India at 274 in 50 overs for 7 wickets. The total looked respectable, but considering the start, it felt below-par then.

Wolvaardt- du Preez stole it from India

South Africa got a steady start with their bat despite an early run-out wicket of Lizelle Lee. Laura Wolvaardt played blistering shots to fetch 80 in 79 balls until Harmanpreet Kaur's spin bowled her out. Along with her, Lara Goodall made 49 runs off 69 balls. At this point of time they missed their experienced pacer Jhulan Goswami, as they leaked a lot of runs in the initial 15 overs. Today, Meghna Singh and Pooja Vastrakar looked a bit off with the ball as Mignon du Preez took center-stage to reach her 52 and remained out to sail the team to the finishing line. She was supported by a fiery cameo from Chloe Tryon, who, in her 9-ball play, changed the complete game in 47th over, where she smashed three boundaries to Rajeshwari Gayakwad. This reduced the final over to just 7 runs away from South Africa's win. In this, Mignon du Preez did lose her poise for once, where she went on to hit big and got a catch-out which later turned out to be a slightly overstepped ball by Deepti Sharma. This ball unfortunately buried any chance India had to make it to the semi-finals.

Mithali Raj, India Captain, said, "I think the girls have given it all knowing the importance of today's game. It was a good game from both the sides, good for the sport but it ends our campaign but I'm very proud of our comeback into the tournament after a few losses. Our bowlers have been really good apart from a couple of games. I felt the score was a good total, coming from the fact that we have defended similar scores in the past. Jhulan's experience would have added a lot, but it was a good opportunity for the other bowlers. Everything does come to an end, it will take some time to settle the emotions but that's what sport is... Thanks to everybody who's turned out for every game of India. It was great to have all of you cheering for the girls. I hope you continue to support women's cricket, the Indian Women's team in the coming years."

The unfortunate step

The overstepping ball for a second took the minds back to 24th September 2021, the second ODI of India's tour to Australia. In that match, Australia also needed 3 runs in 2 balls, and Nicola Carey was caught as a full toss no-ball. History just got repeated in a crucial game. That time it was Jhulan Goswami, and this time it was unfortunate for Deepti Sharma.  

Harsha Bhogle tweeted - "Such an emotional roller-coaster. The pressure in such games is enormous. It wasn't to be for India today. At the end of 7 games, it comes down to a quarter-inch over the line......"

Time for Semi-finals

The final league match brought all thrills, emotions and delight in 50 overs. India were a few runs short, their spinners struggled with the dew, and they kept fighting and fighting hard. 

As India fails to qualify for the semi-finals, it'll be Australia vs West Indies on 30th March at Wellington and South Africa vs England on 31st March at Christchurch.