ICC Women's World Cup 2017: India vs South Africa, 5 things that went wrong for Mithali Raj's side
India suffered their first loss of the ICC Women's World Cup at the hands of South Africa and that too in a meek manner. The Proteas were on top right from the start and barring a blip in the middle overs, cruised to a 115 run victory and thus ending India's 16-game unbeaten streak.
Dane van Niekerk starred with the bat and the ball and deservedly won the Player of the Match award. India had a strange batting collapse which led to this heavy loss. Mithali Raj scored a duck while the spinners failed to create the desired impact. On that note, here are the five things that went wrong for India in their humbling defeat at the hands of South Africa:
#5 Failing to end the first innings on a high
South Africa had a brilliant start to their innings courtesy of Lizelle Lee. The Proteas were cruising at 160/3 at one stage after just 27 overs. But the Indian spinners broke the spine of their middle order and took wickets at regular intervals between the 27th and the 40th over. South Africa were reduced to 203/6 at one stage and at that time, it looked like the Indian ladies had regained control of the game.
But Dane van Niekerk played a captain's knock and along with the lower order, scored big in the last 10 to change the course of the game. South Africa reached 273 because of van Niekerk and Chloe Tyron's power hitting. The Indians were poor in the final few overs with the spinners failing to bowl in the right areas. The late surge gave South Africa all the momentum going into the second innings.