IND Women vs SA Women, 5th Match at Colombo, Women's Tri-Series (SL), May 07 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary

That's it form us today. Hope you all enjoyed our coverage. Come back on Friday for the last round robin match. I am Srinidhi signing off on behalf of my team. Take care and stay hydrated!

Harmanpreet: "Definitely that's what we thought that this was an important game. We wanted to finish on a positive note. It was a very good pitch to bat on, happy that everyone took the responsibility. Jemi, Smriti everyone stepped up. We just told Deepti to keep batting because the pitch was much better. Just told them keep it four runs an over. Really good to see Amanjot's bowling performance today, she is someone who can contribute with bat, ball and on the field."

Rodrigues is the Player of the Match: "I think the year has just begun for me. I just want to keep going. The main target is the World Cup. But yeah, I'm very pleased with the knock today. Even more specially my parents were here. They were not there when I scored my first international, but they were there when I scored the second, so I'm very happy with that. [on her innings and the stand with Deepti] think we lost three wickets, but I just tried to play simple cricket. Didn't try to do anything extra, but yes, I was still looking to score runs because I think that's my aim. The more I look to score runs, the better I do and I just try to build up partnerships with Smriti first and then with Deepti. So, I think Deepti played outstanding too. The partnership we had, the way we complimented each other and the way we went about it was outstanding.

[on what has changed since 2021] think it's just the confidence I have and more than that, just me understanding my game. Usually, I used to play 8-4-5 dot balls, get panicked and throw my wicket. But now, I think that sense of calmness is there and you know, I can make up next. And at the same time, a lot of T20 cricket has helped me play in different leagues, in different conditions. It has helped me and given me a belief and a trust in myself. I know that in any condition and any situation, I am well able to deliver what the team requires. And even today, I didn't think much. Honestly, I didn't think about the 100 till I reached my 90s. I was just thinking of how I needed to be bat till the 40th over or the 35th over. In the end, I was thinking so that I can lay a foundation for the rest to come in and go bang, bang, bang. [on her fitness] I think I will have to energise me more to sprint around there. But honestly, it's very hot here in Sri Lanka. It's getting a little difficult. I think that's why we play cricket. Every time I go back, I want to get better. And implementing such things in my workout, that will complement 50 overs of cricket. So, just try to keep it simple but try to keep it very specific to 50 overs. And I think that's helping me, more for endurance stuff."

Tryon: "Yeah, a little bit disappointing. I think we can say as a team, probably not the best first half we had with the ball. Obviously we got a little bit tight at the stumps and our fielding wasn't up to standard. It hasn't been up to standard this whole tournament. But yeah, we didn't get, I think we leaked a lot around the day. I thought we had a good, we won a good toss and I think it was a good wicket throughout. But yeah, just a little bit short and really disappointed about that. [on their bowling] It was tough. They were going at ease. We were trying to find ways. We just moved the mark a little bit and yeah, I felt like we should have put a lot more pressure on them. We didn't and yeah, they just ran away with it. We were just trying to stay at the game as much as we could. But they played amazing. I think as a bowling unit, we need to go back to the basics. I think we should have beaten the stumps a lot more. I felt like we hit a lot more of the stumps. So I think going back to basics has been really important to us for the last game against Sri Lanka.

[on Dercksen] She's really excited about it. Yeah, I know she was struggling with a little bit of cramps. But yeah, we didn't think of anything but just hitting the ball and swinging a single ball. We worked in small stages of how to chase the run rate as much as we could. We never gave up to the end. That's what I love about this team. We showed a lot of character. And I think we really showed that. We came through, but we kept ourselves in the back of the building. [On looking ahead] We get to try a lot of different things here. We had a debut today, and me and Annerie came in early today. It shows a lot of promise. I think it's really brought us closer to the World Cup, and we've just got to stick to see another direction. I wouldn't mind letting others come here, but finish up in the high end of the gate and then go home and really reflect on this year and come back a lot stronger."

6.05pm A dramatic end to the match. Disappointment for South Africa as they are knocked out of the tri-series with three losses. Valiant effort nonetheless. A target of 337 is always going to be a lot for any team and South Africa fell short by 23 runs today. This means India will play Sri Lanka in Sunday's final.

India rode on Rodrigues' fluent123 and Deepti's 93 to post a massive 336 after being three down for 50. South Africa were little sloppy on the field and let too many runs slip away. They are also without Wolvaardt today, and lost a couple of wickets early on in the chase. But Dercksen's determined knock of 81 kept the contest alive when she was joined in by the stand-in captain Tryon. She motored to 63 not out off 39 and helped South Africa hit 89 off the overs 40-48 and brought the equation down to 39 off 12 balls before the bad light stopped the play - the dark skies threatened the game throughout the day. When the play resumed, to everyone's surprise, South Africa couldn't get over the line. Tryon and Dercksen - who toiled with cramps - showed great determination though.

Plenty of positives for India too - Rodrigues' second ODI hundred coming in at No.5 on a home World Cup year is excellent news. Deepti Sharma was also superb with her 93 - which was her first ODI fifty after her unbeaten 68 at Lord's in 2022. Mandhana finally converted her start and scored her first fifty of the tour. Amanjot, playing her first ODI in 15 months, stepped up in the absence of Reddy and Kashvee to pick up three wickets in overcast conditions. Shuchi Upadhyay, on her debut, bowled decently as well. India's fielding has also improved.

27 runs needed off the last six deliveries. Deepti will bowl the last over.

32 off 9

Amanjot will bowl her ninth over

5.53pm: Looks like the light has improved. The match will resume in a few minutes. Tryon had even removed her pads thinking the match would be called off. Tryon and de Klerk are walking back

5.45pm: We are hearing that the cut-off time to resume the match is 5.49pm. It's only a matter of few minutes before we get the official confirmation.

5.35pm: Umpires are having a chat with Harmanpreet Kaur and the batters. It's quite dark over there. DLS par score after 48 overs is 314 . Looks like the match has come to a halt due to bad light. There is a clear disappointment on Tryon's face but umpires are saying they cannot proceed further. India players are also walking off the field. It might be the end of the game. It has not been officially called off yet.

Tryon is also limping a bit

It's getting darker and umpires are having a chat but have decided to continue. Charani now