Richa and Nadine: Two innings, one unforgettable night of grit

Both batters turned a group stage match at the ODI World Cup into an extraordinary contest of resolve

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Thursday night belonged to two batters on opposite sides. Each scripting an innings that will linger long in memory. In Visakhapatnam, where the humidity hung heavy and pressure mounted, India’s Richa Ghosh and South Africa’s Nadine de Klerk turned a group stage match at the ODI World Cup into an extraordinary contest of resolve.

They both batted at No.8 and spoke the same language of determination, but their knocks came from very different positions. While Richa set up India’s total with power and maturity, de Klerk rescued South Africa from the brink with a well-planned heist.

Ghosh: Setting the stage

Richa had given Visakhapatnam its first glimpse of defiance that night. She is often labelled India’s X-factor. And for good reason.

Coming into the World Cup, she hadn't been in the best of form—60 runs at an average of 20 in three ODIs against Australia, 50 at an average of 25 in three against England. But for players like her, form, match-ups and bowling plans often end up being just words. When she is in the zone, the rest is just noise.

Realising the need to build a partnership before she could take the attack on, Richa combined with Amanjot Kaur and Sneh Rana. “If the ball was in my zone, I went for the shot; if not, I tried to rotate the strike as much as possible because the partnership was most important,” she said.