Kaur edges thrilling final for India
The India women’s cricket team pulled off a stunning one-wicket victory off the last ball against South Africa to win the trophy of the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier at the P Sara Oval in Colombo today.
Needing nine runs off the last over with two wickets in hand after South Africa scored a challenging 244, Harmanpreet Kaur hit a six off the penultimate ball before taking a couple off the last ball to clinch a thriller. A run-out in the first ball followed by three dot balls from Marcia Letsoalo only added to the drama.
India and South Africa, along with semifinalists Ireland and Sri Lanka, had already qualified for the World Cup to be held in England this summer as the four teams to progress from the tournament.
Before Kaur’s unbeaten run-a-ball 41, India rode on 50s from opener Mona Meshram (59 off 82) and number three batter Deepti Sharma (89-ball 71), but a flurry of late wickets that saw them fall from 186 for four to 223 for eight left Kaur to add her spectacular finishing touch.
For South Africa, Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka took two wickets each.
Earlier, after winning the toss South Africa’s top eight all reached double figures with the lowest score being Kapp’s 14 and the highest being Mignon du Preez’s 40.
Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad was expensive but incisive, picking up three wickets for 51 runs, while seamer Shikha Pandey picked up two wickets for 41 runs.
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