India Women beat South Africa Women in the final to clinch the Quadrangular Series

India Women took on the South Africa Women in the final of the Quadrangular Series at the Senwes Park, Potchefstroom. The other two teams in the tournament were from Zimbabwe and Ireland. The final turned out to be a one-sided affair as the India Women totally dominated the match. They restricted the Proteas to a paltry score and then didn’t face too much difficulty in chasing it down.

India Women won the toss and asked the hosts to bat first. South Africa Women lost 2 quick wickets and were in a spot of bother at 17/2. The opening batter Sune Luus and the number 4 Mignon du Preez then combined well for the 3rd wicket and added 73 runs before the latter departed for 30 in the 22nd over. Luus carried on to bring up her half-century but was dismissed soon for 55 off 74 balls in the 28th over.

Her dismissal triggered a collapse in the batting line-up and the following batters couldn’t contribute a lot. Ultimately, they were bowled out for 156 in the 41st over. Jhulan Goswami and Poonam Yadav bagged 3 wickets apiece, Shikha Pandey took 2 and Ekta Bisht and Deepti Sharma claimed one wicket each. It was a complete bowling performance from India Women as every frontline bowler chipped in with wickets.

In reply, India Women lost the wicket of Deepti Sharma in the 9th over for just 8 off 25 balls. To make the matters worse, the number 3 batter Mona Meshram fell in the 12the over for just 2 off 4 balls. But the skipper Mithali Raj walked in to bat at number 4 and rebuilt the innings after the early losses.

The other opener Poonam Raut supported her beautifully and the duo added 127 runs for the 3rd wicket and brought the side home with 17 overs to spare. India Women won the match by 8 wickets as Poonam stayed unbeaten on 70 and Mithali on 62. The partnership proved to be the decisive one as the South Africa Women had no answers to the grit of Indian batters.