With an unbeaten 76-run knock, Mithali Raj anchored India’s 143-run chase against South Africa in the second T20I. After a 106-run opening stand with Smirti Mandhana (57 off 42), the mainstay of the visitors' line-up took the team to a nine-wicket win and a 2-0 series lead.
After Harmanpreet Kaur asked the Proteas Women to bat, Shikha Pandey accounted for Lizelle Lee to give India their first breakthrough. At 29 for one, S Luus joined D van Niekerk in building the innings. While the duo played watchfully to carry the innings forward, Pooja Vastrakar claimed the key wicket the opener to leave the hosts on 40 for two which set the ball rolling.
In the next over M du Preez was run out while Poonam Yadav followed up with the wicket of M Kapp to leave SA wobbling at 58 for four. Luus and N de Klerk then toiled to rebuild the innings. With singles the pair kept the scoreboard moving. With runs hard to come by, Luus looked to break the shackles and was sent back by Poonam. Looking to accelerate, de Klerk too perished an over later with SA on 111 for six in the 18th over.
Chloe Tryon, who looked to muscle her way forward also departed holing out to Veda Krishnamurthy at long-on with four balls left in the innings. Ismail then slammed Anuja Patil for a six and with a boundary off a no-ball also adding to the tally, South Africa garnered 142 for seven in 20 overs.
Faced with a modest task, Mithali and Mandhana played themselves in before attacking the South African bowlers. While Mandhana upped the ante, her opening partner once again slipped into the sheet anchor role. Quick running between the wickets complemented by boundaries, the openers laid a solid foundation. The South African fielding too aided India’s cause as the visitors eased their way forward.
Mandhana lofted Ntozakhe over the fence for back-to-back sixes to bring-up her half-century while Mithali creamed Tryon for successive boundaries in the next. However, after taking India past the three-figure mark, the left-hand batter was trapped lbw by M Daniels. With Harmanpreet, the senior batter then took the attack to the opposition. There was little the Proteas Women could do to stop the steady flow of runs as the Indian batters closed in on the target.
With 12 required off 12 balls, Mithali helped pluck nine runs off Kapp to put India in the driver’s seat. And with a boundary off Ismail, she then took India to the target with five balls.
Brief scorecard: South Africa 142/7 in 20 overs (S Luus 33, de Klerk 26, P Yadav 2/18, A Patil 2/37) lost to India 144/1 in 19.1 overs (M Raj 76*, S Mandhana 57) by 9 wickets
Player of the Match: Mithali Raj for her match-winning 76-run knock
