Young Shorna Akter lifts Bangladesh to 232/6 against SA
Visakhapatnam, Oct 13 (PTI): Young all-rounder Shorna Akter's blistering 35-ball 51 not out lifted Bangladesh to a challenging 232 for six after a slow start against South Africa in their Women's World Cup match here on Monday.
Before the 18-year-old Shorna stepped on the accelerator, Sharmin Akhter (50 off 77 balls) and captain Nigar Sultana (32 off 42) added 77 runs for the third wicket to anchor the Bangladesh innings after a start, when the boundaries were hard to come by.
Shrona struck three sixes and as many fours, and was involved in an entertaining 37-run stand with Ritu Moni (19 not out off 8).
Earlier, with both openers Fargana Hoque (30 off 76) and Rubya Haider (25 off 52) overcautious in their approach, Bangladesh needed 16 overs to reach 50.
When Rubya sought to break free with a slog sweep against spinner Chloe Tryon, she ended up dragging the ball from outside off to Nadine de Klerk at mid-on, giving South Africa their first breakthrough.
Bangladesh suffered a big blow when their top batter Fargana was adjudged trapped in front of the wicket after she tried to paddle sweep left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba.
Confident that Fargana got an edge, the South Africans appealed for a caught behind verdict and went upstairs, but the batter was instead given out lbw after it became clear on review that there was no connection with the bat or glove and the ball was hitting the off-stump.
In came Sultana, and she straightway went back to cut Mlaba through point for a four.
Sharmin Akhter collected two boundaries off Masabata Klaas in the next over while Sultana, taking advantage of an attacking field, rocked back to slap Mlaba through covers for a four.
The Bangladesh skipper then employed the lat cut against Nadine de Klerk to get her another boundary as her team reached 100 in the 30th over.
Both Sharmin and Sultana continued to clear the ropes on and off as Bangladesh reached 150 with a boundary in the 40th over.
Shorna and Ritu Moni then propped up Bangladesh with their big hits.
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Prasidh, Kuldeep limit South Africa to 270 after De Kock's hundred
Visakhapatnam (PTI): India fought back gallantly through Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav after Quinton de Kock struck his 23rd hundred, keeping South Africa to a manageable 270 in the third and series-deciding final ODI, here Saturday.
India won the toss after judging the spin of the coin incorrectly 20 times in a row. They had little hesitation in inserting the Proteas into bat, a clear indication of dew factor dominating the thought.
After Arshdeep Singh sent back Ryan Rickelton early, De Kock (106, 89b, 8x4, 6x4) struck his seventh century against India and put on 113 runs off 124 balls with skipper Temba Bavuma (48, 67b) as the visitors moved to a healthy position.
De Kock was severe on Prasidh (4/66), who erred on length continuously in his first spell (2-0-27-0). The left-hander biffed the pacer for 6, 6, 4 in his second over to milk 18 runs.
The 32-year-old quickly pounced on anything that was short, and pacers Prasidh and Harshit offered him plenty of feed on his pet areas.
Bavuma was more sedate, and made runs through those typical dabs and jabs, occasionally unfurling a drive of elan.
De Kock moved to fifty in 42 balls, and never let the tempo down reaching his hundred in 79 balls.
India found temporary relief when Ravindra Jadeja induced a false slash from Bavuma to get caught by Virat Kohli at point.
The tourists got another move on through a 54-run partnership between De Kock and Matthew Breetzkle for the third wicket, and at 168 for two in 28 overs they were in a good position to press on.
But Breetzke's punishment of part-time spinner Tilak Varma forced a rethink in the Indian camp, as skipper KL Rahul brought back Prasidh for a second spell.
What a masterstroke it turned out to be! The Karnataka man broke the back of South Africa’s top and middle order in an exceptional second spell (4-0-11-3).
Breetzke was the first man to go, trapped plumb in front with a straight one and four balls later Aiden Markram uppishly chipped a fuller delivery to Kohli at short covers.
Prasidh soon castled De Kock, whose ugly cross-batted swipe failed to connect a full length delivery from the pacer.
All of a sudden, SA found themselves at a shaky 199 for five, losing three wickets in the space of three overs.
Once Prasidh was done away with the top and middle-order, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep (4/41) took over and mopped up the tail as SA fell short of even a par total on this track.
