Four centuries, two partnerships, and one game to remember

Since T20s emerged as the most fun format, the death of one-day cricket has been cricket's favourite topic for debate. The format is considered endangered, and its death is as inevitable as the low survival rate of imported Cheetahs in Kuno National Park. 

However, there’s a reason why ODIs became so popular among cricket fans. And no, I’m not talking about reasons like coloured clothing, faster cricket, etc. 

It’s because, unlike T20 cricket, there are likely to be phases of the game where you’ll have to adapt and change your playing style, both as a bowler and a batter. 

If the pitch is helping the bowlers even a bit, then that struggle to score runs becomes more than a fight to survive (unlike Test cricket). It becomes a fight to stay alive and also live at the same time. Because in ODI cricket, you can either get busy living or get busy dying. 

In the second ODI between India and South Africa at the Chinnaswamy, two partnerships displayed these essential qualities of the ODI format in all their glory. These partnerships were also quite similar in that they were the defining stands of their respective innings. However, they also showed why the ODI format has its value in distinct ways. 

Mandhana and Kaur’s rejuvenation

At the 20-over mark, the Indian innings was going practically nowhere. The scoreboard only showed 75 runs, and a wicket had also fallen. 

The South African pacers Ayabonga Khaka and Masabata Klaas got a pitch with decent grass covering around the good length area, and they made maximum use of it with their pinpoint accuracy. Until then, lateral movement was available whenever the ball pitched on the seam. Even left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba was getting the ball to turn. 

At that point, it was all about survival and biding out her time for Smriti Mandhana. After facing 40 deliveries, the generally swashbuckling left-hander from Sangli had scored only 14 runs. If you had wanted to show someone what grind means in cricket, this innings would have been exemplary until then. 

That grind, like the first ODI, was about concentration and discipline for Mandhana. She left deliveries going across her from the right-arm pacers. She played close to her body, and against spin, she was cautious not to play against the turn. 

The grind ended after that phase. As the ball went old, the sun came out, and within a matter of a few overs, Chinnaswamy started behaving like a batting heaven, which it mostly is. 

India had just lost Dayalan Hemalatha at that stage, who failed to connect one wild slog after nailing a few earlier. In came captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who was fresh from a long string of low scores in the format. So much so that in her last five ODIs, she could only score 14, 9, 5, 3, and 10. 

Kaur started in her characteristic I’ll-paddle-sweep-everything-the-spinner-throws-at-me mode, taking singles and doubles wherever available. 

However, South Africa’s skipper Laura Wolvaardt must have realised the biggest mistake she made at that point. Khaka, Klaas, and Malaba had already bowled a major chunk of their quotas even before India could enter the second half of their innings. With Kapp not bowling due to workload management after a back injury, her options were limited in the second half. 

Mandhana and Kaur, who have had quite a few big partnerships in the format, were aware of this. That’s when biding the time came to help India’s captain and vice-captain. They latched on to bad deliveries like barnacles on a ship. No full toss was spared. No half-tracker was given respect. 

The acceleration continued steadily, but it was in the last 10 overs that it finally reached a crescendo, and the ladies freed themselves of any inhibition. It was time to fly high, and they did. 

Mandhana, before getting out in the 46th over, scored 36 runs in the 17 deliveries at the death. She was striking at 211.8, and boundaries came thick and fast. After all, her century was done. There was nothing to lose. 

Meanwhile, captain Kaur played sensibly while her deputy was going gung-ho from the other end, scoring only 26 off 24 until Mandhana got out. After that, it was carnage as she hit two sixes and five fours to score 29 off just 15 in the last four overs, completing her sixth hundred. There couldn’t have been a better announcement of return to form. 

India ended at 325/6. Their two most experienced batters had rejuvenated their innings, scoring 171 runs together in just 136 deliveries. The game was there to claim, as a 300-plus target has only been chased once in the history of women's ODIs. It happened just two months, two days ago, when Chamari Athapaththu’s Sri Lanka did it by scoring 305/4 in just 44.3 overs. And guess which team was at the receiving end?

South Africa. 

Wolvaardt and Kapp’s gumption

When you see Laura Wolvaardt bat and lead South Africa, it’s hard to know that she’s just 25. After the last game, where her side was bundled out for just 122 chasing 266, she still found positives and gave the way forward after the game. 

“I think there are a few positives, however,” Wolvaardt said. 

“I thought it was a very decent score. I thought one person needed to bat through. It was a very chaseable target.”

Saying is one thing, doing another. Wolvaardt, however, is a woman of determined action. 

After the first few overs, the pitch and conditions had become quite batting-friendly. Wolvaardt maximized that by ensuring that the runs kept coming in the powerplay and in the next ten overs as wickets continued to tumble around her. 

After Mandhana’s out-of-the-blue wicket of Sune Luus, the Proteas were in a dire state at 73/3. If not for Radha Yadav's drop, Wolvaardt would have been back by now. 

That’s when Kapp joined Wolvaardt, and the entire tempo of the Protea's batting changed as their two strongest batters joined hands and started steering the chase astutely.

While Wolvaardt continued to milk the Indian spinners with a straight bat, Kapp played predominantly on the leg side. These two batting styles certainly put the Indian captain in pressure as different areas of the ground were being targeted against the same bowler and plans. 

After Pooja Vastrakar conceded 14 runs in the 27th over, the floodgates opened a bit. Boundaries started to come regularly. Indian spinners erred by bowling full and dished out many full tosses. They also made good use of Shafali Verma’s over, a part-time option, as 26 runs were scored off 24 deliveries against her. 

By the 40th over, with boundaries coming regularly and both batters having negotiated everything India threw at them, things were evenly poised. India had scored 128 runs in their last 10 overs. South Africa needed 103 runs in the last 10 with seven wickets. 

It was up to Wolvaardt and Kapp, who accumulated 20 runs in the first two death overs. However, that’s when Deepti Sharma got the crucial breakthrough of Kapp by making her hit it straight to Pooja Vastrakar at the straight boundary. 

But Wolvaardt kept the fight on. She scored 50 runs in the 27 deliveries she faced in the last over. Despite all that initial steady game and then the later acceleration, she couldn’t hit a six when five runs were needed on the last ball. 

South Africa had lost a thriller, but they kept themselves alive through sheer perseverance and confidence to pull off something incredible. 

Alas, they couldn’t, and once again, a great century (135* off 135) from Laura Wolvaardt wasn’t enough to win the game for her side. 

However, in the end, there’s no difference between the ones who won and those who kept fighting until their last breath. 

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