Durban, Apr 19 (PTI) Opener Shafali Verma struck a typically aggressive 57 but rest of the Indian batters struggled against largely accurate South Africa bowlers, settling for a below par 147 all out in the second Women’s T20I here on Sunday.
Shafali was involved in a fine stand of 53 with debutant Anushka Sharma (28) but it was not a smooth stay by any stretch of imagination.
The Durban pitch had a hint of variable bounce in it, which will keep Indian spinners interested as the match progresses, but their batting colleagues could not fare better.
After losing Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues in successive overs of left-arm spinner Chloe Tryon (3/22), Taking a cue from their spinners, SA pacers Ayabonga Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune (3/31) and Nadine
de Klerk too mixed cutters and slow balls to keep Indian batters guessing.
The third wicket alliance between Shafali and Anushka, who were given lives respectively on 24 and 11, was a prime example of that.
Shafali, who hammered Sekhukhune for two fours and a six in an over in the Power Play, slowed down, whereas Anushka, who began her international career with a four, too found the going tough.
Shafali reached her 15th T20I 50 in 31 balls but fell soon, skying Noku Mlaba to De Klerk in the deep.
A little bit earlier, Tryon had ousted Anushka as India slipped to 109 for 4 in 14th over from a healthier 99 for two in the 12th over.
Thereafter India kept losing wickets at regular intervals, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma all fell attempting acceleration.
In fact, India lost eight wickets for a mere 48 runs in that period of disarray.
India are trailing the five-match series 0-1. PTI UNG APS APS APS
