Team India suffered their first Women's World Cup 2025 defeat against South Africa, ending their unbeaten streak. Richa Ghosh's 94 went in vain as a middle-order collapse, inconsistent bowling, and dropped catches led to a three-wicket loss.

Team India was handed their first defeat of the Women's World Cup 2025 by South Africa at Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Thursday, October 10. The Women in Blue, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, suffered a three-wicket defeat to the Proteas, ending their unbeaten run in the tournament.

After being bundled out for 251, India failed to defend the total as South Africa chased down the 252-run target in 48.5 overs, with Nadine de Klerk playing a match-winning knock of 84 off 54 balls. Opener and skipper Laura Wolvaardt led the Proteas run chase earlier with an innings of 70 off 111 balls, while Chloe Tryon contributed with a crucial knock of 49 off 66 balls.

For Team India, Sneh Rana (2/47) and Kranti Gaud (2/59) picked two wickets each, while Amanjot Kaur, Shree Charani, and Deepit Sharma picked a wicket each.

As the Women in Blue recorded their first defeat of the tournament, let's take a look at key takeaways from Team India's loss against South Africa.

Team India's vice-captain Smriti Mandhana's form came under scrutiny after her another poor outing in the match against South Africa. Mandhana was expected to return to form after poor returns in the previous two games against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, scoring 8 and 23, respectively. However, Mandhana yet again failed to deliver at the top order in the clash against the Proteas.

While her opening partner, Pratika Rawal, was scoring confidently early in India's innings, Mandhana was struggling to find her rhythm before she was dismissed for 23 off 32 balls by Nonkululeko Mlaba. Smriti Mandhana had a disappointing start to her Women's World Cup 2025 campaign, as she could aggregate 54 runs at an average of 18 and a strike rate of 72.97 in three matches.

India witnessed a dramatic collapse in the middle order, leaving the team in a shambolic situation. This was yet another middle-order woe for the hosts, which was first seen in the opening match against Sri Lanka. The Women in Blue were at 83/2 after Harleen Deol's dismissal, and Harmanpreet Kaur joined Pratika Rawal at the crease. However, things went downhill for India in the middle order.

From 83/2, the hosts collapsed to 102/6, losing wickets of Pratika (37), Jemimah Rodrigues (0), Harmanpreet Kaur (9), and Deepti Sharma (2), losing four wickets in just 19 runs, completely derailing India's innings and leaving the team in a precarious position. The situation put the team on the verge of an early batting disaster.

Wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh yet again displayed her valiance with the bat to pull Team India out of a shambolic situation, which was created by middle-order batters. Ghosh stepped up for the side when she was needed the most as he played a gritty yet brilliant innings of 94 off 77 balls, falling six runs short of her maiden ODI century.

Richa stitched a crucial 41-run stand for the seventh wicket with Amanjot Kaur (13) to take the team past the 150-run mark before forging an 88-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Sneh Rana (33) to guide the Women in Blue to a respectable total of 251, giving India a fighting chance despite the earlier middle-order collapse.

The bowlers, including Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, and Shree Charani, gave Team India momentum by taking early wickets and reducing South Africa to 81/5 in 19.4 overs. The situation looked like the Women in Blue could seize control of the match and wrap up the Proteas' innings quickly.

However, inconsistent bowling in the later overs allowed South Africa to slowly rebuild, with Nadine de Klerk and Chloe Tryon combining to build a crucial 69-run partnership to lift the Proteas from 142/6 to 211/6 before the latter's dismissal. Kranti Gaud's expensive bowling in her penultimate over of the spell proved costly as de Klerk smashed her for 18 runs, including two sixes and a boundary, and steered South Africa closer to the target.

Though bowlers failed to capitalise on early breakthroughs, India's fielding lapses further eased South Africa's recovery. In the match, the hosts dropped three catches of Marizanne Kapp, Sinalo Jafta, and Chloe Tryon, allowing crucial partnerships to flourish and ultimately contributing to their inability to defend the total. Additionally, there were instances of misfielding, especially from outfielders, resulting in extra runs for South Africa.

In the last match against Pakistan, India dropped three catches, and two were of Sidra Amin. These fielding lapses often put Team India in a situation where pressure mounted on the bowlers, allowed opponents to build partnerships, and made defending totals far more difficult than they needed to be.

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