“Tough game, deserved win for South Africa”: Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur

October 10, 2025

Visakhapatnam: Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur praised South Africa’s Chloe Tryon and Nadine de Klerk for their impressive batting in their fixture in the ongoing Women’s World Cup, saying they deserved the win. She acknowledged India’s collapse in batting but appreciated their total of 250.

De Klerk’s majestic half-century powered South Africa to a thrilling victory by three wickets over India in the ongoing Women’s World Cup, despite an early batting collapse in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.

“Tough game. Both teams played really well. Even though we collapsed while batting, we still managed to put 250 on the board. In the end, Chloe and de Klerk batted; they showed it was a very good pitch, and they deserved to win with the way they batted”, she said.

“The way she was hitting, it was very pleasing to us; she plays the big shots and got us to that total. As a top order, we didn’t take responsibility and bat well. It is a long tournament, today was a tough game for us,a lot of positives and learnings for us. Keep doing the hard work and improving,” Harmanpreet Kaur said after the match.

South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt also praised Nadine de Klerk’s incredible batting, saying she’s “lost for words” after their thrilling win. Wolvaardt acknowledged that India put up a strong fight, particularly Richa Ghosh’s impressive batting.

Ghosh played a brilliant knock of 94 to help India post a respectable total of 251. Coming in at No. 8, Ghosh’s 94 became the highest score by a number eight batter in Women’s ODI World Cup history.

Sneh Rana provided valuable support with a crucial cameo, adding 88 runs alongside Ghosh to revive the innings before India lost quick wickets in the final overs to be bowled out.

Rana and Ghosh’s 88-run partnership is IND-W’s highest for the 8th wicket in WODIs, breaking the previous record of 76 between Sushma Verma and Vastrakar.

The result gave South Africa its second consecutive victory, while India suffered its first defeat of the tournament.

Brief score: India Women 251/10 (Richa Ghosh 94, Pratika Rawal 37; Nonkululeko Mlaba 2/46). Vs South Africa Women 252/7 (Nadine de Klerk 84*, Laura Wolvaardt 70; Sneh Rana 2/47).