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.
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South Africa could never pose a challenge in the match as the hosts were bowled out for 112 in 18 overs.
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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
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