Nadine De Klerk stuns India in a nail biter
- Venue: ACA-VDCA Stadium, Visakhapatnam
- Occasion: ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, 10th match
- Result: South Africa Women 252/7 in 48.5 overs beat India Women 251 all out in 49.5 overs by 3 wickets
- Player of the Match: Nadine de Klerk (84* off 54 balls)
Both teams came in with momentum: India had opened their home World Cup with two big wins, while South Africa were starting to recover after an early loss. This game would end up shaping the narrative of both sides’ campaigns – and foreshadowing their meeting in the final a few weeks later.
Toss and teams
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt won the toss and, reading a slightly tacky surface and evening dew, chose to bowl first. India went in unchanged, backing the top order that had piled up runs against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. South Africa stuck with their tried-and-tested pace core of Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka and Nadine de Klerk, with Chloe Tryon again the key spin-allrounder through the middle overs.
India’s innings – a collapse, then a rescue act
Bright start, sudden slide
India began briskly. Smriti Mandhana and youngster Pratika Rawal got the hosts moving with a busy opening stand that pushed the score beyond 50 without damage. But once Mandhana fell and the ball started gripping a touch, South Africa squeezed hard.
The middle order – Harleen Deol, captain Harmanpreet Kaur, and Jemimah Rodrigues – all got in but couldn’t turn starts into something substantial. Wickets fell in clusters and, from a promising platform, India suddenly found themselves tottering at 102/6, the Visakhapatnam crowd stunned into silence.
Richa Ghosh rewrites the record books
At 102/6, India needed something special – and Richa Ghosh produced it. Coming in at No. 7 and quickly shepherding the tail, she played what the stats would later confirm as the highest score by any batter batting at No. 8 or lower in women’s ODIs: 94 off 77 balls.
Richa’s knock had everything:
- clean hitting down the ground against pace,
- deft dabs behind point off the spinners
- and, crucially, composure when partners kept changing at the other end.
Her partnership with Sneh Rana (a handy 30-odd cameo) dragged India from crisis to competitiveness. A late flurry with the tail took India to 251 all out in 49.5 overs, a total that looked 30 short when you considered where they might have been at 102/6, but also 40 more than seemed possible at that moment.
The crowd rose as Richa walked off, stranded six short of a hundred, but having almost single-handedly built a defendable score.
South Africa’s chase – early chaos to late carnage
Kranti strikes, India on top
India’s new-ball pair, spearheaded by rising quick Kranti Goud, came out hunting. Goud removed dangerous opener Tazmin Brits for a three-ball duck, and the pressure quickly spread through the top order.
By the time Sinalo Jafta fell, South Africa were reeling at 81/5, the required rate climbing and the Indian spinners – especially Sneh Rana – dictating terms. Rana eventually finished with 2 for 47, her off-spin once again central to India’s control through the middle overs.
At that stage, with the hosts buzzing and the sea of blue in full voice, it felt like India’s game to lose.
Wolvaardt and Tryon rebuild
South Africa’s captain Laura Wolvaardt, however, was still there. Batting in her trademark composed style, she anchored the innings, refusing to panic even as wickets fell around her. Together with Chloe Tryon, she stitched a 61-run stand for the sixth wicket, stabilising the chase and nudging the game back into the balance.
Wolvaardt’s 70 off 111 balls wasn’t flashy, but it was vital – she soaked up pressure, rotated strike just enough and kept India from running through the lower order. Tryon, meanwhile, played her natural game: positive strokes, especially down the ground and over midwicket, on her way to 49 off 66.
When Tryon fell, South Africa still needed a big finish. Enter Nadine de Klerk.
Nadine de Klerk’s 84* – an all-timer
Walking in with the game still delicately poised, Nadine de Klerk launched one of the great World Cup counter-attacks. Initially she played second fiddle to Wolvaardt, but once the captain was dismissed, de Klerk flipped a switch.
Her unbeaten 84 off just 54 balls was a clinic in modern lower-order batting:
- Eight fours and five sixes, many of them straight or over long-on,
- Calm running between the wickets with Ayabonga Khaka at the other end,
- And a clear sense that she understood the chase equation better than anyone else on the field.
India tried everything – returning to Goud’s pace, using Deepti Sharma’s variations, and going back to Rana for one last twist – but de Klerk kept finding gaps and, when in doubt, went over the top. The decisive moment came in the 49th over when she launched a towering six to seal the chase with seven balls to spare, finishing South Africa on 252/7 and completing what became the highest successful chase against India in a Women’s World Cup match.
What it meant in the bigger picture
Kranti strikes, India on top
From a tournament perspective, this game did a few big things:
- It was India’s first defeat of the World Cup, exposing vulnerabilities in their batting under sustained pressure.
- It kick-started South Africa’s surge, giving them belief that they could win tight games away from home – momentum they carried into later victories over Bangladesh and England in the semi-final.
- It set up a psychological subplot for the final in Navi Mumbai, where India eventually took revenge and lifted their maiden World Cup title. The memory of de Klerk’s 84* in Vizag undoubtedly shaped India’s bowling plans when the teams met again for the trophy.
