Hilton Moreeng rues missed chances against India

Hilton Moreeng, the South Africa Women coach, said his side “missed a trick” in not backing up a competitive total with good fielding, as they slipped to a 2-0 deficit against India in their five-match Twenty20 International series.

India, led by half-centuries from Mithali Raj and Smriti Mandhana, completed a comprehensive nine-wicket win in chasing down South Africa’s 142/7 in the second T20I in East London on Friday (16 February).

“Our discipline today was average, below par,” said Moreeng after the match. “There were too many soft dismissals in the first seven or eight overs. That put us on the back foot. And still we did well, to get to 140, which I felt on this wicket was a competitive total … we didn’t back it up today with the fielding.”

Moreeng highlighted India’s opening partnership, which was worth 106, and their smarts on the field that set the teams apart. Both Mandhana and Raj were dropped a couple of times before they got to their half-centuries, and South Africa missed some run-out opportunities as well.

“(The Indians) created opportunities and they took their chances. Today, we will look at it from our side as a game of missed chances. And India, when they look at it, when they got an opportunity, when they got dropped, they capitalised,” he said.

Mandhana agreed that it was a disciplined performance that benefitted India. “We fielded and bowled better,” said the left-handed batter, who hit three sixes in her 42-ball 57. “It was a 125-130 wicket, so we gave 15 runs extra. But yes, we had to cover up for that.”

Raj picked up a second consecutive Player of the Match award for her 76 off 61 balls. It was her fourth consecutive T20I half-century, and India’s opening duo complemented each other well.

“We saw the wicket in practice, it was on the slower side, slow and low. We had a discussion in the team meeting that you have to take an over to settle down,” explained Mandhana. “And whatever chances we had, we utilised it. It was important for both of us to continue – it would have been better if I carried my bat – but it was important for us to finish the game because for a new batter to come in and score at 6.5, it would have been hard.

“Credit to Mithali, the way she batted and finished off the game, it’s something to learn from.”

The action next moves to Johannesburg, Centurion and Cape Town, where the two teams will play T20I double-headers with the men. Moreeng acknowledged that the home side had made it “very difficult” for themselves, and would treat every match as a final to still fight for the series.

India, meanwhile, are eying a dominant performance to take confidence into the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2018 in the Caribbean later in the year. Said Mandhana: “We’ll aim for 5-0 because this is preparation for the World T20. We have to give 100%.”