Deepti, Jemimah, Shikha, Yastika, Hemalatha find teams in WBBL overseas draft
Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shikha Pandey, Yastika Bhatia and Dayalan Hemalatha have found teams in the second WBBL overseas draft held on Sunday.
A scintillating half-century (62 off 50 balls) from Mithali Raj, followed by some fantastic bowling by Shikha Pandey (3/16), Rumeli Dhar (3/26) and Rajeshwari Gayakwad (3/26) not only helped India beat South Africa by 54 runs in the fifth T20I of the five-match series at Cape Town on Saturday, it also gave the Women-in-Blue a 3-1 series win over the Proteas.
Batting first, Mithali’s (62) along with Jemimah Rodrigues quick-fire 44 enabled India to register 166 for four in 20 overs.
South Africa could never pose a challenge in the match as the hosts were bowled out for 112 in 18 overs.
Advertisement
Shikha Pandey was the pick of the Indian bowlers, as she took three important wickets, giving away just 16 runs in her four overs. Veteran Rumeli Dhar (3/26 in 4 overs) and left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad (3/26 in 3 overs) complemented Pandey as India won the match and series 3-1.
The win also showed that Indian women’s performance in the ICC ODI World Cup wasn’t a mere flash in pan and the women showed little rustiness even though they played their first series in seven months. The big positive was winning a T20 series — a format where the Indian women have not done well traditionally.
With inputs from PTI
Advertisement
