Richa Ghosh's 94 in vain as Nadine de Klerk blitz stuns India in Vizag

Richa Ghosh's fighting 77-ball 94 went in vain as Nadine de Klerk's blazing 54-ball 84* powered South Africa to a thrilling come-from-behind three-wicket win against India in Visakhapatnam, on Thursday. As a result, hosts India suffered their first defeat in the ongoing ICC Women's World Cup.

De Klerk's efforts were well supported by Laura Wolvaardt's 70 and Chloe Tryon's all-round effort (49 & 3-32) as South Africa revived themselves from 81 for 5 in the 252-run chase, and overhauled the target with seven balls to spare.

It wasn't the best of the starts for South Africa's chase as they suffered a dent in the opening over. Tazmin Brits hit straight back at Kranti Gaud, the bowler, who stuck her hand out and took a fine catch to dismiss the opener for a duck. Sune Luus departed soon after edging to the 'keeper.

Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp steadied the innings briefly, before the latter was cleaned up by a straighter one from Sneh Rana. It began a slide that firmly pushed South Africa on the backfoot. On a pitch that was turning and stayed slow, shot-making wasn't easy. Even as Wolvaardt was able to middle the ball, gaps weren't easy to find. Meanwhile, wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals from the other end, leaving South Africa reeling at 81 for 5 by the 20th over.

However, South Africa weren't giving up without a fight. Tryon and Wolvaardt played out the middle overs patiently against the Indian spin quartet. The spinners offered loop and sent a few quicker ones as well to tease and test the duo. However, both the batters were up to the task and put on a 61-run stand before Wolvaardt was cleaned up by Gaud's yorker.

Even as India were firmly in control of the contest, Tryon stretched the fight in the company of Nadine de Klerk. As the seventh-wicket partnership flourished and the required rate kept creeping up, both started taking their chances.

The final push started from the 46th over, with de Klerk smashing a six and a four to get the over started. Even as Tryon fell later in that over, bringing an end to a momentum-flipping 69-run partnership, de Klerk continued to be on the offensive. Gaud was at the receiving end of that assault, being taken apart for 18 runs in the 47th over. That attack brought the required rate down, allowing de Klerk to be calculated with her attack and farm the strike.

With not much batting power for company left, de Klerk took most of the strike, attempted to play with the field - sometimes with success, and sometimes not. Eventually it was two deliveries on the line of her stumps in the penultimate over that she clubbed over the fence to take South Africa to their second victory of the tournament.

Earlier in the day, it was a similar late-order resurgence by India, led by Richa Ghosh, that had helped them to a respectable score after a batting collapse.

Put in to bat, Pratika Rawal had made a brisk start to her innings, cracking a couple of boundaries in the opening over against Marizanne Kapp. She continued to be severe against the veteran pacer early on even as India were slightly conservative in taking their chances in the Powerplay. Nonetheless, Rawal's early attack allowed India to make a fairly well-paced start, with the openers putting on a half-century stand.

Smriti Mandhana took time to find her groove, but just when she started to accelerate, Nonkululeko Mlaba struck in the 11th over, with Mandhana finding the fielder at long on. Rawal and Harleen Deol slowed down thereafter, but their attempt to give a strong platform for the middle order to break free was cut short six overs later when Mlaba cleaned up Deol.

It was the start of India's slide as the middle order continued to struggle against left-arm spin. Chloe Tryon added to their woes as the hosts were soon reduced to 102 for 6 by the end of the 26th over, leaving Richa Ghosh and Amanjot Kaur to yet again revive the innings.

Amanjot, who had bailed out India in the first game, opted for a more conservative approach on Thursday, offering company to her accomplished batting partner. Ghosh too controlled her natural attacking instinct and selectively picked her scoring shot. The duo stitched a half-century stand to pull some momentum back. However, even when Amanjot departed after keeping the South African bowlers at bay for 14 overs, India were far from a safe score.

That's when Ghosh broke free. She got going by clubbing Nadine de Klerk's slower delivery down the ground for a six. Sneh Rana also took little time to make her intentions clear, going after Mlaba and getting two boundaries in the 43rd over.

Once Mlaba was done with her spell, and Ghosh had crossed her half-century, the batter was employing all her power into her shots. Attempts to fox her with low full tosses and wide yorkers proved futile. She did ride her share of luck, getting dropped twice and surviving a run out chance, and made the most of it as the eighth wicket pair added 88 runs in only 53 balls.

She eventually ran out of luck in the last over of the innings when a swipe at a full toss landed safely in the hands of Tryon at long on, and India's innings folded for 251.

Brief Scores: India 251 in 49.5 overs (Richa Ghosh 94, Pratika Rawal 37; Chloe Tryon 3-32, Marizanne Kapp 2-45) lost to South Africa 252/7 in 48.5 overs (Nadine de Klerk 84*, Laura Wolvaardt 70) by 3 wickets