Washout plays into India’s hands

FOURTH T20I South Africa started well but India hold on to 21 lead after match was abandoned due to rain

India’s poor fielding came to the fore once again as they failed to keep a rampaging South Africa women in check before some soft dismissals brought them back into the game somewhat.

That women’s cricket is seeing more big hits was evident here as Leslie Lee hammered five of them on way to 59 (38 balls with two fours).

She was the aggressor in a partnership of 103 with her captain Dane Van Niekerk who made 55 (47 balls, 6x4, 2x6) as the hosts got off to a rollicking start.

India allowed a lot of easy chances to past them, as they struggled on the field. Their spinners and seamers both looked bland and provided easy pickings.

However, thanks to soft dismissals and an injudicious shot, the Indians, who lead the fiveT20 series 2-1 came back a bit. And just when they had looked good, rain intervened. At the time of the break, the hosts were 131/3 in 15.3 overs.

The Indians won the toss and elected to field, perhaps smarting under the loss in the previous match at Wanderers where they batted first and were restricted to a modest total.

The bowlers, however, could not make a breakthrough. The much-vaunted India spinners went for most runs as the South Africans easily clobbered them

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for boundaries. Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad went for 31 runs in two overs.

Under pressure, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur brought herself on to put a stop to runs. Soon enough, in trying to go for runs, the Proteas lost a bit of track with Deepti Sharma, who too had been thrashed, picking two wickets.

There were a couple of soft dismissals – Van Niekerk and Tryon giving easy catches. India would be glad to see the back of Tryon, who thrashed them during Sunday’s game.

Sune Luus, another dangerous batter was out leg before the wicket while playing across the line.

The fifth T20 will be held on Saturday, the same day the men’s team face South Africa for the third and final T20.

In all likelihood, both teams could be seen sharing the winners’ podium after a dominating display in the limited-overs series.

The women’s team had won the ODI series 2-1 before the T20 series.