Indian batters falter as SA win tri-series

East London: A poor batting performance cost India dear as they lost to hosts South Africa by five wickets in the final of the women’s tri-series final here today.

Chloe Tryon (57 not out off 32 balls) counterattacked with great gusto, hitting six fours and two sixes, to chase down a meagre 110-run target with two overs to spare.

What made Tryon’s innings special was the degree of difficulty the other batters encountered due to the slowness of the track.

India’s spinners Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Sneh Rana tried their best but the target was always going to be difficult to defend despite South Africa being reduced to 47/4. “Unfortunately today we were not able to bat the way we wanted and the bowlers did well,” India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said.

Earlier, Harleen Deol scored 46 off 56 balls to get the team past the 100-run as India’s batters struggled to break loose.

Brief scores: India: 109/4 (Deol 46, Harmanpreet 21; Mlaba 2/16); South Africa: 113/5 (Tryon 57*; Rana 2/21)