India bounced back against the South African women in a dominating fashion on Tuesday by winning the second ODI by nine wickets. The previous meeting on Sunday saw team India losing by eight wickets.
After winning the toss on Tuesday, Mithali Raj opted to field first. Veteran bowler, Jhulan Goswami justified her captain’s decision by grabbing four wickets. Meanwhile, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Mansi Joshi and Harmanpreet Kaur chipped in with wickets to restrict South Africa to 157 runs in 41 overs.
The SA openers proved to be ineffective against Indian bowlers after a good show in the first ODI. Sune Luus and Lara Goodall made some decent efforts to solidify the innings, but their stay on the pitch was shortlived.
India lost Jemimah Rodrigues very early in the chase as her poor run of form in ODIs continued. Smriti Mandhana and Punam Raut hit impressive half-centuries and stitched a match winning partnership to chase down the total in 28 overs. Mandhana was the aggressor in the partnership as he scored 80 runs in 64 deliveries, while Raut held one end by scoring 62 runs in 89 deliveries.
Indian captain Mithali Raj appreciated the bowlers, including the player of the match, Jhulan Goswami, by saying, “I think it started from winning the toss, that’s where things went right. Credit to Mansi [Joshi] who bowled well with Jhulan [Goswami] and bowled well. There was a good start. The spinners took their time, and Harman’s wicket of the left-hander [Lara Goodall] was an important one. Our fielding was also good. We sat down and analysed what was needed. The wicket was quite good. Today I had feedback from all over the ground, and that helps the team as a unit when we are on the field.”
The next ODI of the series will be played on Friday in Lucknow. Both teams will be looking to get the slender lead instead of chasing the series by suffering defeat in the third ODI. After five match ODI series, India will also play three T-20 games against South Africa in the same stadium.