India has played three Tests at home since December -- one each against England, Australia and South Africa. India has won all three.
But if someone was to tell you that a team tried and denied the host a victory, pushing what looked like a three-day Test to the last session of the last day, which team would you count on pulling that off?
For the uninitiated in women’s cricket, South Africa might not be your first choice.
The M. A. Chidambaram Stadium here witnessed a special kind of grit as the Proteas battled to salvage the one-off Test match against India, albeit in vain. The host held its nerves and sealed a thumping 10-wicket win to register its third Test win at home on the trot.
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South Africa began the day on 232/2. Skipper Laura Wolvaardt, batting on an overnight score of 93, first got the century out of the way, her first in Tests. She tucked the ball to deep square-leg to bring up the milestone.
Wolvaardt plays a shot against India during the lone test match between South Africa and India at M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. | Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam / The Hindu
“It (the strategy) was literally just about taking it one ball at a time, not even looking at the scoreboard and just to try and bat for as long as we could,” Wolvaardt told reporters after the Test.
“Obviously, being in the nineties overnight was something weird for me. It wasn’t quite the same getting there (to the hundred) this morning. It was a bit of a weird feeling, only scoring seven runs and then celebrating.
“It wasn’t something I was thinking about because the goal was just to bat through the day. So I’m glad that the milestone got out of the way early and that I could just focus on batting as long as I could,” she added.
India, which started off with spin early, kept alternating between Sneh Rana (who got an eight-for in the first innings) and Deepti Sharma.
The latter got India its first breakthrough when she trapped Marizanne Kapp leg before in the 99th over off a full length delivery moving outside off. It rapped Kapp on the pads but the senior pro, knowing the consequence of losing the partnership, reviewed in vain. New batter Delmari Tucker followed her to the pavilion off the very next over for a duck.
Sneh Rana celebrates taking a wicket in the India vs South Africa one-off Test at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. | Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam / The Hindu
She played a fuller delivery off Sneh uppish through cover but got no distance as Jemimah Rodrigues, who was off the field with cramps for most part of day three, completed a brilliant low catch.
In came Nadine de Klerk then. Throughout the game, with bat and ball, De Klerk wore her emotions on her sleeve, often to India’s advantage. In India’s only batting innings, the host fed off her fluctuating emotions, evidenced by her bowling returns - 12 overs, 79 runs conceded for just the solitary wicket of Shubha Satheesh.
With the bat, a similar urgency took over De Klerk in the first innings where the pace of the game amped up and put the pressure back on the Proteas. She fell for a 44-ball 39.
In the second innings, things changed. The brief was clear. To plough into the crease and not budge. De Klerk dropped anchor for 185 balls (nearly two and a half hours) and brought up her maiden Test fifty.
She held the tail together, who also put up a remarkable fight, taking the Test to the final session.
Tumi Sekhukune channelled her heroics in a fighting draw against England (unbeaten 33 off 134 balls in SA’s second innings) in Taunton in 2022 in Chennai too with a 35-ball six-run effort.
Sinalo Jafta, who battled cramps through the day and even retired hurt for a while before coming back, and Masabata Klaas too helped De Klerk steady up the innings, allowing South Africa to dream of taking the lead.
De Klerk’s urgency with the bat returned once the milestone was ticked off. We could have been looking at a different result if she and the tail had managed to grind out perhaps 30-40 minutes more with the bat.
South Africa’s innings folded with De Klerk’s wicket as she lost her stumps to a slower ball from Rajeshwari Gayakwad. The visitor had managed a lead of 36.
Smriti Mandhana, who was off the field for most part of the final day, gave way to Shubha Satheesh who opened the batting for India alongside Shafali Verma. The pair razed down the small target with little over an hour of playing time left in the day.
With the sun playing hide and seek all weekend, a wicket that was primed to turn with sunlight never opened up, making it challenging for bowlers to find purchase through the course of the Test.
Despite that, Sneh and India’s spin contingent found a way to bowl the Proteas out of this game.
The off-spinner, who won her second consecutive player-of-the-match honour in this format, had a cheeky line for the broadcasters at the end of the match.
“In the beginning of the interview, you said that people think off spinners are easy to play out. I hope this Test has given people a few answers (on how it is).”
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