In the ODI Women`s World Cup 2025 match against South Africa, Team India`s wicketkeeper-batswoman Richa Ghosh played a glorious knock, but it went in vain as the side suffered a loss by three wickets at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
Facing 77 deliveries, Richa accumulated 94 runs, falling short of just four to complete her well-deserved century. Her knock was laced with 11 boundaries and four maximums.
Speaking about her knock, she backed the top-order by saying that they are good players and a failure in one match cannot define them.
“First, about the top order — they`re all very good players. One match doesn`t define them. Anything can happen in cricket; it`s our job to do our best every time. You can`t always put the blame on the top order,” Richa Ghosh said at the post-match press conference.
“Secondly, we never gave up on the match — we played till the last ball and tried to get as many runs as possible,” she added.
She then pointed out the moment that shifted the match`s result in the Proteas` favour. She said that Nadine de Klerk`s six and four in Kranti Gaud`s over helped the opposition to take charge in the game.
“I think the turning point came in Kranti`s over — that one six and one four she (Nadine de Klerk) hit really changed the momentum. Otherwise, everything was under control. We kept playing good shots till the end,” said the 22-year-old cricketer.
Later, de Klerk helped South Africa cruise to victory by playing an unbeaten knock of 84 runs. Her knock came in just 54 balls, which was laced with eight boundaries and five maximums. Before her, Chloe Tryon scored 49 runs. She missed her half-century by just one run, but smashed five boundaries in her 66-ball knock.
Also, skipper and opening batswoman Laura Wolvaardt garnered 70 runs in 111 deliveries, including eight boundaries. The side successfully chased the target of 252 runs in 48.5 overs.
India`s Gaud and Sneh Rana bagged two wickets each. Nallapureddy Charani, Amanjot Kaur, and Deepti Sharma also registered one wicket each to their names.
(With PTI Inputs)