Women's World Cup: South Africa beat India in nail-biting fixture

South Africa downed India in a thrilling ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 match at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium on Thursday.

Skipper Laura Wolvaardt's anchoring half-century, coupled with Nadine de Klerk's unbeaten 84, powered South Africa to an enthralling victory over the hosts.

Set to chase 252, the Proteas knocked the winning runs on the fifth delivery of the penultimate over, when de Klerk smashed Amanjot Kaur for a massive six over deep mid-wicket, powering her side to their second consecutive victory in the mega event.

South Africa, however, had a contrasting start to their innings as they Kaur and Kranti Gaud made early inroads with the ball, reducing them to 18/2 inside six overs.

Following the twin setback, experienced all-rounder Marizanne Kapp (20) joined skipper Wolvaardt for an anchoring 39-run partnership for the third wicket before being outfoxed by Sneh Rana in the 14th over.

The Proteas then lost two more wickets at regular intervals and were consequently reduced to 81/5 in 19.4 overs.

Meanwhile, Wolvaardt remained firm during the collapse and eventually found subtle support at the other end in the form of Chloe Tryon.

Wolvaardt and Tryon led the recovery by putting together 61 runs for the sixth-wicket partnership, which culminated with the opener’s dismissal in the 36th over.

The captain remained the top-scorer with 70 off 111 deliveries, featuring eight fours.

Walking out to bat at number eight, de Klerk launched a counterattack on the Indian bowlers with a swashbuckling half-century and ultimately led South Africa to a hard-earned three-wicket victory with seven balls to spare.

The right-handed batter top-scored with an unbeaten 84 off just 54 deliveries, studded with eight fours and five sixes. She was adequately supported by Tryon, who made a handy contribution with a 66-ball 49, featuring five boundaries.

For India, Rana and Gaud took two wickets each, while Shree Charani, Deepti Sharma and Kaur could pick up one apiece.

Put into bat first, the home side accumulated 251 runs before getting bowled out in 49.1 overs.

India got off to a decent start to their innings, with their opening pair of Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal yielding 55 runs before the former was dismissed by Nonkululeko Mlaba in the 11th over.

Mandhana scored 23 off 32 deliveries with the help of one six and a four.

Her dismissal sparked a middle-order collapse which saw India lose six more wickets for just 98 runs in 178 deliveries and consequently slipped to 153/7 in 40 overs.

Following the slump, wicketkeeper batter Richa Ghosh launched an astounding recovery with a blistering half-century, top-scoring with a 77-ball 94, laced with 11 fours and four sixes.

She also shared a crucial 88-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Sneh Rana, who made a handy contribution with a brisk 33 off 24 deliveries until falling victim to Marizanne Kapp in the 48th over.

Chloe Tryon led the bowling charge for South Africa with 3/32 in her 10 overs, followed by Nonkululeko Mlaba, Nadine de Klerk and Kapp with two each, while Tumi Sekhukhune made one strike.

The three-wicket victory lifted South Africa to the fourth position in the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 standings as they now have four points in three matches, while India remained third due to superior net run rate.