Twitter Reactions: South Africa clinch thriller to knock India out of tournament

In a heart-break for Indian team and its fans, the Women in Blue were knocked out of the 2022 ICC World Cup after losing against South Africa in the final group match of the tournament. South Africa required seven runs in the final over with off-spinner Deepti Sharma given the responsibility from Indian side. Deepti did manage to scalp the wicket of Mignon du Preez with South Africa needing three runs off two balls. However, the 24-year-old overstepped, giving a second chance to du Preez as the batting side managed to score the winning runs on the final ball of the match.

Winning the toss, India decided to have a bat first with openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana providing a solid start by putting up a partnership of 91 runs in 15 overs. Shafali was more of an aggressor between the two as she scored 53 off just 46 balls, hitting eight fours before getting run out. India were jolted with another quick blow as Yastika Bhatia was cleaned up by spinner Cloe Tryon, leaving India at 96/2 in 16.3 overs.

However, skipper Mithali Raj (68 off 84 balls) and Mandhana (71 off 84 balls) stitched a good partnership, taking the score past the 150-run mark. Harmanpreet Kaur joined Mithali after Mandhana was sent back to pavilion. The senior duo of Mithali and Kaur stitched a valuable partnership of 58 as India were looking to get past the 300-run mark.

However, South Africa made an excellent comeback during the last phase as they bowled tight lines and chipped away with wickets at regular intervals. As a result, India could only manage to score 274 runs in their allotted 50 overs. Pacer Shabnim Ismail was pick of the bowlers, scalping two wickets in her quota. Masabata Klaas also got two wickets.

Mignon du Preez was the star for South Africa in their chase

Chasing 275, South Africa had a bad start after one of their opener Lizelle Lee (6 off 15 balls) was caught short of her ground by a direct-hit from Kaur. However, the other opener Laura Wolvaardt and Lara Goodall stitched a brilliant partnership of 125 runs and put the pressure back on India.

The Women in Blue, however, managed to scalp the wickets of both batters in quick succession leaving South Africa at 145/3. Skipper Sune Luus was then joined by du Preez as they kept the score board ticking before Luus was caught in front of the wicket by Kaur.

Despite India taking wickets at regular intervals, the batting side kept getting close to the target with vital contributions from Marizanne Kapp (32 off 30) and Chloe Tryon (17 off 9). It came down to the wire with South Africa needing seven runs in the final over of the match and they managed to score the winning runs on the final ball of the match.

Meanwhile, here are some Twitter reactions: