South Africa registered a thrilling heist in their Women's World Cup clash against India at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Thursday, October 9. Nadine de Klerk was the cynosure of the run-chase, as she smashed an unbeaten 84 off 54 balls while batting at No. 8 to help the Proteas chase down a 252-run target in 48.5 overs.
At one stage, South Africa were reeling at 81/5, but skipper Laura Wolvaardt (70) and Chloe Tryon added a 61-run stand to resurrect the ship. However, when the former
was dismissed, South Africa were still a long way away from their target. Nadine de Klerk forged a 69-run stand off 60 balls with Tryon to give the Proteas hopes of a memorable win. After the latter departed for a gritty 49, the onus was on de Klerk to take her team to victory. She went berserk in the death overs to amass 39 runs off just 15 balls in the 41-run partnership with Ayabonga Khaka to give the tourists a brilliant win.
After her heroics, de Klerk said she was at a loss for words. She admitted that South Africa had to be at their best to beat a strong Indian side in their home conditions.
“I am lost for words. We have done a lot of good things in the last couple of days, but to finish off the game gives us a lot of confidence. I do like being under pressure and do love World Cups, we had to be at our best to beat India at home. We needed a win like this to show we are capable as well. We knew we had to take it this deep, we are a good side in the last 10 overs and even if we needed 7-8 runs per over we are in the game,” said de Klerk in the post-match presentation.
Chloe batted really well and took the pressure off me: Nadine de Klerk
The star all-rounder credited Tryon for taking the pressure off her. She said that it is her job to finish off games while batting at No. 8. De Klerk registered the second-highest score while batting at No. 8 or lower in Women's ODI cricket. Interestingly, Richa Ghosh put on the highest score from this position while batting in the first innings. Her 77-ball 94 helped India get to 251 after being reduced to 153/7 earlier in the innings.
“Chloe batted really well and took the pressure off me. It comes quite naturally, that is my role in the side, to come out at no. 8 and finish off the games. It was a good wicket today. We have a couple of days off and will reflect on this, there is a lot to learn even though we won,” she added.
