India captain Harmanpreet Kaur on Sunday rued the missed opportunities in the field that played a major role in her team’s six-wicket defeat to South Africa in their Women’s T20 World Cup Group A clash.
Radha Yadav dropped two regulation chances at long-on against Marizanne Kapp, who capitalised with an unbeaten 81 off 45 balls (7 fours, 4 sixes) to steer South Africa to a crucial win.
“We got a couple of chances in between but couldn’t take those chances,” Harmanpreet, who became the first cricketer among both men’s and women’s to play 200 T20Is, told the broadcaster after the match.
“We have two matches, and this is the time to stay positive. Shree Charani and Shafali (Verma) bowled well, but the fielders didn’t support them. We have to take
opportunities at this level. We were not lucky enough with that.”
The Indian skipper said the team will reassess its approach ahead of the remaining two group-stage matches against Bangladesh and Australia, even as India remain second in the points table.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals. With three wins in as many games, Australia sit at the top of Group A, followed by India.
“We have two matches, and this is the time to think about that. We will sit and rethink what to do, and then we will see the changes to be done,” Harmanpreet said.
“She (Kapp) took the game away from us. She gave us two chances, and those were the crucial moments and that took the game away from us.”
“(There are) lots of learnings, lots of positive moments and lots of moments where I have to stay strong. Now is the time to stay positive and plan for the upcoming games. Hopefully, we come up better in the next games,” the Indian captain said.
