India vs South Africa, Women’s World Cup 2022 highlights: India miss out on semi-final spot as SA win last-ball thriller

Full ball on off from Gayakwad that is played to cover-point. As has been the case for the last few overs, the batters set off for a tight single, Harmanpreet runs accross, throws it underarm to the keeper who is swift to break the wickets. Kapp is well outside the crease as replays show and India get another. We have a thriller unfolding here. 

Kapp run out (Harmanpreet/Ghosh) 32 (30), South Africa 229/5

Du Preez completely miscues the shot off Gayakwad and the ball is going straight down the throat of Mandhana at long-on. But she drops it leading to collective sights around the Indian camp. 

Kapp and Du Preez take runs at the smallest of chances and that has put all kinds of pressure on the Indian fielders. Need 49 to win to win off 36 balls. 

Kapp slices Sneh Rana to backward point off the first ball of the 44th and the fielder is unable to stop it. The ball runs away for four. Not the kind of thing India can afford at the moment. 

Five singles in that over and while the required rate has touched 8.00, the fact remains that India are wiping the ball vigorously with due increasingly becoming an issue. Additionally, South Africa still have a lot of firepower in their lineup so India have their work cut out here. 

SA are 198/4, need 77 to win off 60 balls. South Africa continue to tick away the singles and doubles but the require run rate continues to creep up for them. They only need one big over here and the equation will shift their way again. For now, India have their noses ahead. 

Full ball from Harmanpreet that beats the flick from Sune Luus and India appeal. Umpire gives not out but India take the review. As it turns out, Harmanpreet got prodigious turn on it and the ball is hitting leg stump, after an impact that fell in front of off. 

Luus LBW b Kaur 22 (27), SA 182/4 off 36.1 overs

Full toss from Rana for the second ball of the 36th over, Du Preez comes down the track and smacks it straight it back to her. Rana gets a hand on it to ensure it's a dot ball but she has hurt herself in the process. The physio comes out and Rana pops a pill. Still seems to be strugglind she she prepares to bowl the next ball. 

They need 113 runs to win off 108 balls. India still have a long way to go, Mignon du Preez and and Sune Luus are still a formidable pair and they still have Marizanne Kapp and Chloe Tryon left to come. 

Can you believe it, Harmanpreet of all bowlers has dismissed Woolvardt. The South Africa has missed this one completely as she is beaten by the sharp spin. The ball just goes past the outside edge and takes the stumps. Harmanpreet is off to celebrate, she knows how big this wicket is and India have their tails up now. 

Woolvardt b Harmanpreet 80 (79), South Africa 145/3 in 27.5 overs

Goodall falls just one run short of her half century. Gayakwad flights the ball and Goodall comes down the pitch, misses it entirely and Ghosh completes the stumping with the batter caught completely outside her crease. 

Laura Goodall st Ghosh b Gayakwad 49 (69), SA 139/2 off 26.5 overs

Short over Gayakwad and Goodall manages to get the ball just over midwicket. A few Indian lights may have lit up there. 

The skipper is desperate for wickets now, conditions seem to be absolutely perfect for batting. Mithali ends up handing the ball to Harmanpreet, who is yet to bowl in this tournament. 

South Africa 133/1 in 25 overs

It seems to go from bad to worse for India. The players can be seen wiping the ball with towels as Sneh Rana bowls the 25th over. As if it hasn't been difficult enough for India to contain the flow of runs, let alone challenge these two batters, dew seems to be coming in to play as well. 

And it has come in just 99 balls. Wolvaardt is on 66 off 62 while Goodall is on 37 off 49. SA are 114/1 in 21 overs. 

Wolvaardt finishes the 20th over with a four to move to 65 off 50. She had hit a boundary off the third ball of  that over to get South Africa past the 100-run mark. 

Four singles in that over with absolutely no problems for South Africa and all these runs are hurting India. Goodall and Wolvaardt have put up 81 off 86 balls so far and put South Africa well on track in this chase. 

She has hardly given the Indians any chance and has cruised to her half century in just 44 balls. For now, it's looking all too easy for South Africa. They need 194 to win off 34 overs. 

South Africa are cruising along at the moment and India are in a spot of bother now. The partnership between Goodall and Wolvaardt has gone past 50 and they are well on track of chasing this total down now. 

Wolvaardt pulls Sneh Rana for her sixth boundary to get South Africa to 50 off the last ball of the 10th over. She has powered them to a good start to this chase despite the fall of the early wicket.

Laura Wolvaardt is putting on a show here. She first flicks Meghna Singh behind squre and then brings an exquisite cover drive for a second consecutive four. She is the highest run scorer of the tournament and India know they have to get her out as quickly as possible. 

South Africa 43/1 in 9 overs 

That is a showstopper of a direct hit from Harmanpreet and, just as India did earlier in the day, South Africa lose their first wicket to a run out. Unlike India though, this was no mix-up and Harmanpreet had to get it absolutely spot on. It was a streaky run and the batters were challenging the fielder more than anything else but once the direct hit came, it was clear that Lee was well short of the crease. 

Lizelle Lee run out (Harmanpreet Kaur) 6 (15), South Africa 14/1 off 4.4 overs

Wolvaardt with her first boundary of the match and she cuts it up and over the infield in the fifth over. 

Deepti bowls the second over and almost delivers off the very first ball. It was a ripper of a delivery that missed Wolvaardt's outside edge and the off stump by a whisker. Just one run came off that over and that makes it 2/0 for South Africa off the first two overs. 

Meghna Singh is bowling the first over to Lizanne Lee with Laura Wolvaardt at the other end. She starts off with a wide. 

It was all too comfortable in the end for the defending champions and that result means that India have to win this game to go through to the semi-finals. England have now jumped to third with eight points and a net run rate of +0.95. 

Bangladesh have been reduced to their last wicket going into the last five overs of the match and they are still over 100 runs away. It is safe to say that India have to win this match to go through to the semi-finals. 

India need to defend a target of 275 to reach the semi-finals. The last 10 overs certainly did not go the way India would have wanted and the South Africans were brilliant in how they pulled things back. Even then, this remains a formidable total and India will fancy their chances despite the absence of the incomporable Jhulan Goswami. 

Last over of the innings bowled by Khaka, Harmanpreet runs two off the second ball and then goes for an almighty swing off the third. She misses the ball completely and the ball crashes on to the stumps. 

Harmanpreet b Khaka 48 (57), India 271/7 in 49.3 overs

Well that is a strange sequence of events. Sneh Rana was given out twice for almost the same shot. She tried to pull Ismail and the ball went to the wicketkeeper. The umpire gave out for caught behind on both occassions and Sneh Rana looked quite surprised both times before reviewing and there was clear daylight between ball and bat. 

Slow ball from Ismail and Richa Ghosh goes high up in the air. It looked Luus may have lost it in the sun but, she had it under her control all the time. 

Richa Ghosh c Sune Luus b Shabnim Ismail 8 (13), India 268/6 in 48.2 overs

A boundary at last. Kapp bowls it short gives Harmanpreet some width to work with and the Indian batter latches on to it. Much required boundary for India.   

It hasn't quite been the finish they would have hoped for as the Indians struggle with the South Africans taking the pace off and hardly providing any width. 

India haven't been able to get the kind of flow they would have wanted since the 40th over. Harmanpreet seemed to have holed out at deep midwicket but it fell just short of Tryon. The players ran a single to get to the mark. India are 250/5 in 46 overs. 

Pooja Vastrakar chips it straight to cover and Ismail continues her comeback. She was taken apart by Shafali Verma in the early part of the match but has hardly conceded anything since the opener fell. This is her first wicket of the match. 

Vastrakar c Luus b Ismail 3 (8), India 240/5 in 44.2 overs

It had to happen. Mithali goes for the big shots and finally finds a fielder. That ends a brilliant innings from the Indian captain and it is now upto Harmanpreet and the rest to get them to a good total. 

Mithali c Tryon b Klaas 68 (84), India 234/4 in 42.3 overs

10 overs to go and India will currently be looking at something beyond 300 as a good total. This seems like a good batting pitch and South Africa are a dangerous unit so India will want to take advantage of the conditions as much as possible. 

Mithali Raj is not leaving any survivors today. Khaka doesn't take the pace off for Mithali after doing that for Harmanpreet and the Indian skipper lofts her over mid-off. A single off the next ball moves Mithali to 66. 

Mithali ends that over with a four, her sixth of the innings. Tryon bowls it wide outside off and Mithali places it brilliantly between short third man and backward point. 

64th ODI fifty for Mithali, 11th in World Cups. She tends to cope some criticism for her strike rate but this one has come in 69 balls. She now holds the record for being the youngest and the oldest player to score a half century for India in the World Cup.