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2nd over: South Africa 7-0 (Wolvaardt 2, Brits 4) From the other end it’s Kranti Gaud, military medium with the haircut to match. She starts steadily too, but then Tamzin Brits drills her down the ground for a well-timed four. Kranti bites back with a length ball that holds its line and beats the bat outside off. This innings is already a good contest.
1st over: South Africa 1-0 (Wolvaardt 1, Brits 0) Renuka Singh takes the new white ball, swinging it in, and she starts with three nice solid dots. When she drops a touch short, Wolvaardt is able to cut but can’t evade the sweeper. Still, one off the first over is one more than India managed.
Updated at 10.30 EST
Out comes Laura Wolvaardt, with a fair amount of weight on her shoulders. Will she be weary after running the show for 50 overs on top of a rain delay, or still buzzing from her magnum opus against England?
“Given how the semi-finals played out,” says Mohammed Faser, “the Proteas should fancy a record chase.”
Updated at 10.24 EST
India have a 65pc chance of a win according to CricViz, South Africa 35. According to the slightly less celebrated TimViz, it’s a bit closer than that. Yes, India have runs on the board and they made Marizanne Kapp look like a mere mortal, but they never went crazy and they let Ayabonga Khaka get Kapp’s wickets for her. The South Africans won the last phase of that first innings, so they may well feel as if they got out of jail after all those dropped catches. They have the toss on their side if the rain returns, and they’ve already seen that there are plenty of runs in this pitch. The World Cup final is nicely poised.
Updated at 10.20 EST
Hello everyone and thank you Tanya. That was a hell of a shift, extended by two hours because of the rain. I offered to do a stint in the dull middle overs, but (a) Tanya was too much of a trouper to agree to this and (b) the middle overs weren’t dull anyway.
ShareSouth Africa need 299 to win
Ebb and flow aplenty in that innings – excellent ground fielding but five dropped catches. India, 158-1 at halfway, could only manage 69 for three from the last ten overs.
South Africa will have to pull off the highest chase in history to win a Women’s World Cup Final. And Tim de Lisle is here to guide you through it. Thanks so much for your emails, today and throughout the tournament. Bye!
South Africa players celebrates the wicket of India’s Deepti Sharma. Photograph: Faheim Husain/ShutterstockShare
Updated at 10.24 EST
WICKET! Deepti run out 58 India 298-7 after 50 overs
Radha throws the sink, taps and plugs at the final ball, but drops the bat. India come back for the second and Deepti is run out.
50th over: India 298-7 (Radha 3) Just five singles off De Klerk. Chaos off the penultimate ball as Deepti hits straight with one arm, thinks she’ll be caught, isn’t, and Radha has to then sprint back to the striker’s end. A big total, but not an ungettable total. Delicious!
ShareWICKET! Richa c Derksen b Khaka 34(India 292-6)
Deep square leg is waiting, and Derksen holds on. At last. Richa is patted on the back as she walks over the boundary, where Harmanpreet waits, throwing a ball, slowly ,deliberately, from hand to hand
49th over: India 292-5 (Deepti 55 ) Khaka controls the narrative for the first half of the over, then Deepti launches into a full tss sending it roaring for four. But a vital wicket from the last.
ShareFifty for Deepti
48th over: India 286-5 (Deepti 50, Richa 33) Kapp’s shadow directs her field alongisde her. But she’s roast-beefed by a 100-horsepower Richa over extra cover for SIX. Deepti jumps for joy at the other end. Deepti reaches fifty with a quick single, off 53 balls. Oh dear and Richa is then dropped by a diving Bosch as she lurches into a full toss. Kapp’s face is blank with fury.
Updated at 09.45 EST
47th over: India 277-5 (Deepti 49, Richa 25) Oh my eyes! Richa reverse-sweeps the excellent Mlaba, so so sweetly behind point.
46th over: India 269-5 (Deepti 47, Richa 18) De Klerk bustles in. Again just one run from her first four balls, but Richa clomps her fifth to the rope to heady blue delight.
45th over: India 262-5 (Deepti 46, Richa 13) Khaka for Mlaba. Just five singles from the first five balls, but Ghosh threads the needle to the last, picking up four past the despairing, near-coliding bodies of de Klerk and Bosch.
Updated at 09.35 EST
44th over: India 253-5 (Deepti 43, Richa 7) Hands on heads in the crowd with Amanjot’s dismissal but Richa Ghosh gets them going again with SIX inside-out over extra cover – that’s her 11th six, the most, now, of anyone in the tournament.
Updated at 09.34 EST
WICKET! AManjot c and b de Klerk 12 (India 245-5)
A leaping de Klerk bags Amanjot, deceived by a slower ball, leaping over the crouching Deepti.
43rd over: India 245-4 (Deepti 42, Amanjot 12) The fielders move this way and that as Mlaba, green skin under her shirt, dances in. Appeals for an lbw – not out on the field but Wolvaardt, brain possibly scrambled by that drop, reviews. Sue is in the TV umpire chair. Impact outside the line. Just two singles from the over. Fabulous bowling.
42nd over: India 243-4 (Deepti 41, Amanjot 11) Amanjot, last-over heroine of the semi-final, stitches Kapp for four past backward point.
41st over: India 236-4 (Deepti 39, Amanjot 6) And another chance fluffed, as Wolvaardt dives forwards at long on to a miscue from Deepti, but misjudges completely. Deepti had already screwed up her face in anticipated disappointment. Wolvaardt jumps up, face betraying nothing.
40th over: India 229-4 (Deepti 36, Amanjot 2) Kapp is back, and almost gets rid of Deepti, who twists the bat and turns her up, flicking the finger tips of Kapp who leaps with outstretched hand in her follow through. A horribly difficult chance.
”It is not surprising at all that the South African Women are throwing themselves at every ball, stopping boundaries and saving runs.” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “After all, the first known super hero of fielding, Jonty Rhodes must have been a great influence (Trivia – His daughter is named India)“
ShareWICKET! Kaur b Mlaba 20 (India 223-4)
Nicely flighted and Harmanpreet, eager for boundaries, rocks back and loses her bails. She immediately turns and stalks off, helmet half off. Crucial wicket as India look to turn up the volume.
39th over: India 223-4 (Deepti 31, Amanjot 0 ) Wolvaardt brings Mlaba back to attempt to stem the flow. Cropped bleached hair, studs in her ears. Just three singles, a wide, then the WICKET!
A big wicket for Nonkululeko Mlaba as Harmanpreet Kaur is bowled. Photograph: Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 10.00 EST
38th over: India 219-3 (Deepti 31, Kaur 19) Deepti goes again, over midwicket with a bucket and spade for four. Tryon has seven overs under her belt for 46. Black skies now in Navi Mumbai, the lights blazing from their posts.
37th over: India 211-3 (Deepti 25, Kaur 17) Deepti gets the slow-death raised finger from the umpire off de Klerk’s first ball. She asks her partner whether she should review, gets the nod, and wisely – the ball pitched outside leg. So she lives to sweep de Klerk’s last delivery round the corner for four.
36th over: India 203-3 (Deepti 19, Kaur 15) Tryon, on the money. Just three singles. Kaur, like in the semi-final, is taking her time to wind up.
35th over: India 200-3 (Deepti 17, Kaur 14) More excellent fielding by South Africa on a slippery deck, picking up cleanly on the slide and dive, prevents the boundary. It is just starting to drizzle.
34th over: India 195-3 (Deepti 15, Kaur 12) Tryon, shirt untucked, suncream smeared across her nose. Deepti nearly falls foul of a quick single, ends up sprawled on the ground once more. Deepti sweeps sharply, but the ball is cut off by the sub fielder Shangase who throws herself at full pelt towards the ball. But the boundary comes when Kaur shimmies into poition and then late cuts, knife through butter. Tryon turns in despair.
33rd over: India 185-3 (Deepti 11, Kaur 6) Deepti plonks front foot forward and wide and satsumas Kapp for SIX over deep midwicket. Then four well run singles. Kapp talks animatedly to Wolvaardt and then walks off the field as the players take DRINKS.
32nd over: India 175-3 (Deepti 3, Kaur 4) Khaka concedes just two, one of them a wide. Deepti tries to ramp her for four, but misses, in the dug-out the Indian players cover their eyes with their hands
31st over: India 173-3 (Deepti 2, Kaur 4) Deepti, as so often, looks as if she’s running through treacle, dives like an old suitcase to make her ground. Run outs a high possiblity here.
30th over: India 172-3 (Deepti 1, Kaur 4) The game switches again with two new batters at the crease. Excellent effort by South Africa to stay in the game when it threatened to sprint away. The ground falls quiet.
ShareWICKET! Jemimah c Wolvaardt b Khaka 24 (India 171-3)
A glorious-looking stroke, but brings her downfall, as Wolvaardt does very well to scoop the ball off the ground at cover. The umpires take a look to be sure – but the cameras spell Jemimah’s downfall.
29th over: India 171-2 (Jemimah 24, Kaur 4) Kapp back to pile on the pressure. But Harmanpreet isn’t playing nice and gets off the mark by crouching low and flicking her behind for four, the barest of movements, like the nod of a head to hurry someone along. Kapp takes her hand out of her pony tail in frustration.
Updated at 08.27 EST
28th over: India 166-2 (Jemimah 23, Kaur 0) But like a classic Australian side, there is no end to the pressure, as Shafali’s demise brings only more trouble in the shape of Harmanpreet.
Updated at 08.28 EST
WICKET! Shafali c Luus b Khaka 87 (India 166-2)
Shafali tries to flay over mid-off again but doesn’t clear the fielder, Luus, who retreats and holds on with both hands and punches the air. A sweat-soaked Shafali pulls off her helmet, puts one hand to her heart and walks off. An all-important innings, getting India off to a flyer against the new ball.
Regrets, Shafali Verma has a few – even though she top-scored with 87. Photograph: Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 10.01 EST
27th over: India 162-1 (Shafali 85, Jemimah 21) Four singles milked off Mlaba. Wolvaardt jogs back, pale faced but still looking calm and collected.
26th over: India 158-1 (Shafali 83, Jemimah 19) Khaka comes back, can she be less expensive in this spell? Just a couple of singles from the first four balls but then an NOBALL. Shafali takes stock round the ground but it is a free-hit ball to die for, right on the wide line, and Shafali doesn’t move a muscle. She roars in frustration, but takes it out on the next, a slower ball, which she splats over extra cover for four more.
25th over: India 151-1 (Shafali 78, Jemimah 18) Shafali gets some treatment for cramp, lying down on the ground surrounded by the physios, and is tracked by spidercam which seems a bit intrusive to me. A dot ball from Luus is followed by six wham-bammed down the ground. Hard to believe, but she’s still only 21.
A message drops into the OBO mailbox. “Thanks for your coverage of an excellent tournament. The round-robin format worked well (apart from the rain in Sri Lanka) as even the so-called lesser sides competed well against the higher ranked teams. Some real surprises (the strength of batting at 7 and 8 and weakness of several middle orders against spin), predictable wins and standout performances of guts, skill and character. Loved it, especially the pistachios and mangoes.”
Why thank you Stephen! I agree, it has been a real joy to watch.
“India to win by the barest of margins in the final over.” Over to Tim for that one.
24th over: India 140-1 (Shafali 68, Jemimah 17) Sorry I missed the fact I needed to change the channel. Some singles.
23rd over: India 134-1 (Shafali 65, Jemimah 14) Luus rolls into over number four. Five singles from it.
22nd over: India 129-1 (Shafali 63, Jemimah 11) Jemimah keeps things singing with quick singles while Shafali Tryon for four off her legs.
21st over: India 122-1 (Shafali 58, Jemimah 9) Oh my, Shafali is dropped on 56, a high ball drops into Bosch’s hands at deep midwicket, and then straight out again. Now Jemimah drives through extra-cover with tinkling bells for four.South Africa need to hold on here.
20th over: India 114-1 (Shafali 56, Jemimah 3) Four dry singles for Jemimah.
18th over: India 111-1 (Shafali 53, Jemimah 3) A handful of singles off Luus.
ShareFifty for Shafali
18th over: India 106-1 (Shafali 50, Jemimah 1) Just as the television commentators say that India have struggled against slow left-arm spin, Smriti, after a lofted-off drive for four, loses concentration. South Africa breathe. And a fifty for Shafali, who wasn’t even in the ODI squad till injury to Pratika Rewal during India’s final group game.
Updated at 07.46 EST
WICKET! Smriti c Jafta b Tryon 45 (India 104-1)
Tryon with the breakthrough! Absolute silence as Smriti leans back to cut but just edges through to the keeper.
The South Africans finally have something to celebrate as Smriti Mandhana departs. Photograph: Rafiq Maqbool/APShare
Updated at 10.02 EST
17th over: India 97-0 (Smriti 39, Shafali 48) Luus. Thick brown ponytail, very front on action. After just one from the first four balls, Smriti leans and sweeps to the rope, sweetness itself.
16th over: India 92-0 (Smriti 35, Shafali 47) Mlaba fizzing through her overs like a Catherine Wheel. The players take DRINKS with India absolutely on top.
15th over: India 89-0 (Smriti 34, Shafali 45) Oh wow! SIX, through the line, straight, Shafali is pumping now. This is the highest opening stand of the World Cup. De Klerk pegs her back for the rest of the over.
14th over: India 80-0 (Smriti 33, Shafali 38)A certain four stopped on the rope by a diving, sliding, Dercksen, long blond plait down to her bottom. She grins. But Smriti does make it count, cutting her past point for four.
13th over: India 71-0 (Smriti 28, Shafali 35) De Klerk again, five from the over but no boundary. Kapp is talking to herself, looking intense. The stadium is humming with expectation.
Shafali Verma hits out as Sinalo Jafta looks on. Photograph: Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 10.03 EST
12th over: India 65-0 (Smriti 27, Shafali 31) And another tight over from Mlaba, just a single squeezed from it. Have just spotted Clare Connor in the crowd too, deep in conversation.
11th over: India 65-0 (Smriti 27, Shafali 30) The highest power play for India of this WC but de Klerk again holds them to a single. Will the pressure start to tell.
10th over: India 64-0 (Smriti 27, Shafali 29) Mlaba stems the flow.
9th over: India 63-0 (Smriti 27, Shafali 28) A double change as De Klerk replaces Kapp. Four more, driven past a diving point by Smriti, high, proud elbow. The flags are flying in the stadium, the crowd a good mix of men and women.
Updated at 07.09 EST
8th over: India 58-0 (Smriti 23, Shafali 27) Wolvaardt turns to Mlaba. And her first ball is dispatched to the rope too, through the covers – BANG. Wolvaardt prevents, just, another near-four.
7th over: India 51-0 (Smriti 21, Shafali 22) Kapp unable,to manifest wickets in the way she could against England in the semi-final. She drifts leg side inviting Smriti to turn her off her boots for four, who accepts.
6th over: India 45-0 (Smriti 16, Shafali 21) Loving the strain of Gimme Hope Jo’anna between overs. India flying after six. Smriti strokes Khaka behind backward point for four, then a cover drive to die for. Then four wides.
5th over: India 31-0 (Smriti 7, Shafali 21) Kapp chews her shiny black painted nails as Shafali blasts her through the covers for four, and then, next ball, turns her wrists like a doorknob and whisks her through midwicket for four more.
“Starbuck’s quip about detergent reminds me of a joke,” writes Krishnamoorthy. “Surf failed in Pakistan because their advertisement campaign depended on a billboard with 3 panels.dirty cloth- surf detergent- sparkling white cloth. Surf did not factor in the fact that Urdu is written from right to left.”