Brits ton in vain as Rana five-for scripts India's thrilling win
South Africa lost eight wickets for 80 runs, including three in an over to Rana as India defended 276
South Africa lost eight wickets for 80 runs, including three in an over to Rana as India defended 276
Scorer: Harshith Gowda | Commentator: Fidel Fernando (@afidelf)
That's it from us at ESPNcricinfo for the live coverage of this match, folks. Firdose Moonda's report will be up shortly. Catch you on the next one.
Harmanpreet Kaur: "We fielded really well and saved a lot of runs. South Africa were doing well for 25 overs, but then we got that breakthrough. The way we were batting on this pitch we knew we could get close to 270. Maybe 10-15 runs here could have given us a better cushion. When Brits left the field we looked at it as an opportunity. We thought about bowling dot balls, and if we can get wickets in between that would be great."
Sneh Rana is Player of the Match: "I was just thinking about my variations. I just relied on them and the pace-off deliveries worked really well. This pitch was tougher than the first match we played. But we talked to the management and we agreed to take the pace off and bowl variations. I did that well."
Wolvaardt: "We'd been set up nice and early, but lost our way towards the end. It's unfortunate what happened with Tazmin, but it's really hot, what can you do? She could barely get up the stairs. She did a good job, it should have been up to the others."
***
India get another victory under their belt to kick off the tri-series. South Africa, though, will kick themselves that they could not turn a fantastic start into a winning chase. The heat in Colombo (and even by Colombo standards, this is SERIOUS heat), meant that Brits couldn't carry on long after she completed her ton. And though the likes of Annerie Dercksen and Sune Luus striking boundaries in the late going, South Africa didn't have enough firepower lower down to get themselves across the line.
Sneh Rana's three-wicket over is what sealed the game. South Africa needed 25 from 18 balls and had five wickets in hand when that over began. But for the second game in a row, she produced a match-turning performance, dismissing de Klerk, Dercksen, and Brits.Her 5 for 43 is easily the best bowling analysis in the game.
A sad ending to this game for Brits, whose cracking start had put South Africa on track to hunt this score down. But we've seen this many times in Khettarama, which tends to be a very tough ground to chase down big scores on. Spinners often end up deciding games here.
N Mlaba run out 8 (7m 6b 0x4 1x6) SR: 133.33
South Africa lost eight wickets for 80 runs, including three in an over to Rana as India defended 276