Rain forces abandonment of second Women’s T20I between India and South Africa

Chennai: Persistent rain forced the abandonment of the second women’s T20 International between India and South Africa after the visitors made 177 for six in their innings here on Sunday.

It helped South Africa maintain their 1-0 lead in the three-match series, and now, India will have to win the third and final T20I here on Tuesday (July 9) to avoid a rare home series defeat.

The start of the match was delayed by 15 minutes because of rain and it was a constant spoilsport on three occasions during South Africa’s innings without stopping the proceedings.

But the heavens opened up during the innings break, sufficient to force the teams to stay put in their respective dressing rooms.

The overs began to lose by 9.16 pm, and the nagging drizzle meant that even the cut-off time — 10.13 pm — for a five-over-a-side contest could not be met, eventually forcing the umpires to take the tough call.

Earlier, Tazmin Brits made a measured fifty as the Proteas overcame some mid-innings jitters to post a challenging 177 for six after being asked to bat first.

Brits (52 off 39 balls) received solid support from Anneke Bosch (40 off 32 balls) as the Proteas racked up their second-highest T20I total against India.

Openers Laura Wolvaardt (22 off 12 balls) and Brits were involved in a 42-run opening stand before pacer Pooja Vastrakar got rid of the former in the fifth over.

In the company of Marizanne Kapp (20 off 14 balls), Brits continued her brisk scoring ways as they put up 66 runs during the powerplay.

While Brits brought up her 11th T20I half-century, she failed to push her stand with Bosch going beyond 38, falling to Deepti in the 14th over, with the score reading 113 for three.

The Indian bowlers, especially the spinners, were barely giving the South Africans any room to bat freely, forcing them to use the sweep shots quite often.

Vastrakar bowled the final over and got rid of Nadine de Klerk (14 off 9 balls), but Jemimah Rodrigues dropped the chance to dismiss Annerie Dercksen (12 not out) for which she made the Indians pay, striking three fours in a row off the last three balls of SA innings.

Vastrakar and Deepti claimed two wickets each for the hosts.