SA Women’s Tri-Series 2023: Lack of power game hurt India in another final

South Africa Women’s T20 Tri-Series 2022-23: Lack of power game hurt India Women in another final. India lost to South Africa Women in T20 tri-series final.

India lost T20 tri-series final against South Africa (Images: ©ImHarmanpree_Twitter)

So close yet so far. This line is quite apt when it comes to India Women’s performance in the finals, be it the ODI World Cup 2017 final, T20 World Cup 2020 final or the Commonwealth Games Cricket Competition gold match; except for last year's Asia Cup, they somehow could not cope with the pressure associated with a final and keep up their tempo.

This time as well they struggled to win another final match, even though they fared pretty well against both South Africa and West Indies in the group matches during the T20 tri-series played in South Africa. They remained unbeaten until the final. Even though the stakes were not so high in the tri-series final on Thursday against the Sune Luus-led South Africa, the Indian batting lineup collapsed like a deck of cards, and was given a reality check by the Proteas.

The tri-series proved to be a preparatory ground for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 that starts on February 10 in South Africa. It is a golden chance for them to sit down and analyse their mistakes as a team, find out what went wrong & how mistakes could have been avoided, fine tune their strengths and move forward positively to start their ICC T20 Women’s World Cup campaign. India will be playing their first World Cup match against Pakistan on February 12.

Read More: Top Four India Players to watch out for in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023

Batting overly dependent on Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur

The team’s batting lineup is overly dependent on Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur’s performances. It’s pretty obvious to depend on big players, but if the team needs to score big runs or to chase a big total, then if two of them get out, it becomes an impossible scenario from thereon for India. No one from the batting lineup comes to the rescue. The same situation was evident in the final of the tri-series; after Mandhana and Kaur went back, only Harleen Deol chipped in with a substantial innings of 46, albeit off 56 deliveries, and the team could score only 109 runs in 20 overs.

In the absence of star opener Shafali Verma, the team tried Yastika Bhatia and Jemimah Rodrigues at the opening slot, but both of them could hardly come near to Verma’s strike rate. Bhatia who got an opportunity to open twice, failed to encash the chance. In the first match of the tri-series, Bhatia scored 35 runs in 34 balls with a strike rate of 102.94, and in the second match she scored 18 runs in 23 with a strike rate of 78.26. Rodrigues opened in the other three matches, but could not live up to expectations.

In T20 matches, expectations from the opening batter are more than what Bhatia and Rodrigues delivered. The starting four overs is one of the most important phases which sets the momentum for a big score. During these powerplay overs, it is expected of the batters to smash the ball, and hit some boundaries to score quick runs, and set a high run rate. But both Bhatia and Rodrigues struggled to push the momentum.

Harleen Deol’s innings in the final 46 of 56 did more harm than good after losing both the opening batters. She took too several balls to settle in on a tough pitch and then could not make the most of it. The total number of dot balls bowled by South Africa was 57 (9.3 overs) with the most consumed by Deol. On the other hand, Deepti Sharma played some good shots but could not do much as there were not many balls left at that stage.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s No 5 batter Chloe Tryon (57 off 32) played stout-hearted cricket without second thoughts even when South Africa had lost half their side for 66 runs. India need someone like her to step up in a situation like this and take responsibility.

In order to win the 2023 T20 World Cup, India have to play an aggressive brand of cricket. They do pretty well in group matches, but the concern is when they reach the semi-final or play against big teams like England and Australia; these teams smell the fear of the opponent, and then playing according to it. They have to be at their best even in the worst situation.

Read More: Women’s T20 WC 2023: India go in with strong batting order; inexperienced bowling cause for concern

Highest run-scorers for India in tri-series

Player	Innings	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	4s/6s
Harmanpreet Kaur	3	109	56*	109.00	136.25	14/0
Smriti Mandhana	5	86	74*	28.66	111.68	12/1
Harleen Deol	4	46	46	19.75	85.86	8/0

Deepti Sharma got player of the series for her 9 wickets (Source: ©BCCI/Twitter)

Deepti Sharma leads India’s Spin bowling attack

The most positive thing about this series was the continuation of good bowling from the Indian bowlers, especially Deepti Sharma, the player of the series. She bagged a total of nine wickets in 16 overs with an economy rate of 5.56. Batters found it difficult to pick Sharma. She managed to deceive the batters with her lengths and turn. Sharma is the finest all-rounder of the lot, on whom India can depend as regards batting and bowling as well.

In the World Cup, the pace bowling attack would be under Renuka Singh and Shikha Pandey. Singh who won the “ICC Emerging Women's Cricketer of the Year 2022” has claimed 40 wickets in just 29 matches across the two white-ball formats in 2022, filling the void of the great Jhulan Goswami.

While, the spin attack would be under Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Sneh Rana and Devika Vaidya. Sharma, Rana and Vaidya all three of them are all-rounders. Vaidya made a comeback after eight years. She is flexible in the batting order and can be used as a floater and contribute with quick runs when needed; she can also be used as an extra bowler to pick up wickets.

Highest wicket takers for India in the tri-series

Player	Innings	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Eco	BBI
Deepti Sharma	4	16.0	89	9	5.56	3/11
Rajeshwari Gaikwad	4	15.0	61	4	4.06	4.06
Sneh Rana	2	7.0	33	3	4.71	4.71

Read More: India Women on the right course ahead of February’s ICC T20 World Cup 2023?

Future all-rounder Amanjot Kaur

The best part of the tri-series is that India found another all-rounder Amanjot Kaur in the tournament. The 23-year-old from Chandigarh played her debut match against South Africa. Her innings of 41 runs when the team was struggling after losing early wickets, came as a rescue act and her contribution proved to be a match-winning one for India.

Amanjot’s medium pace bowling seems effective as she got the ball to skid with decent pace. Even though she is not in the selected squad for the World Cup 2023, but she could definitely be a probable replacement for anyone if there is a need for it.

Shafali Verma & Richa Ghosh are back in the squad for the World Cup

It would be nice to see both Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh back in the India Senior team. Due to ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2023, they both missed the entire tri-series. Already quite well established in the senior team, Verma and Ghosh who both are teenagers were given the responsibility of leading the Indian squad in the inaugural edition - one they fulfilled and helped India become world champions at the U-19 level.

India’s squad for ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023

Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Richa Ghosh (wk), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Anjali Sarvani, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey

Reserves: Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh

The Women’s T20 World Cup begins on February 10 with a game between hosts South Africa and Sri Lanka in Cape Town.

Read More: ICC Women’s World T20 2023 to be held in February in South Africa; Could India overcome final hurdle?