Women's World Cup: Not worried by SA defeat, left-arm spin is no struggle, Sneh Rana plays down India's troubles

Visakhapatnam, Oct 11 It's only a blip in the plans, one match in which we failed to apply ourselves and that one match will not decide our future. That is the thought process in the Indian women's cricket team after their stunning defeat against South Africa in their last match in the ICC Women's ODI World Cup.

As they get ready to take on defending champions and strong contenders Australia in their next match as the tournament approaches the midway stage, the Indian team will, according to all-rounder Sneh Rana, not lose sleep over that one defeat and continue to be positive, stick to its plans and try to put up an improved performance in the upcoming matches.

India suffered a three-wicket defeat to South Africa at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here in Visakhapatnam on Friday, failing to press home the advantage after reducing the Proteas to 142/6 in their chase of a 252-run target. Chloe Tryon (49) and Nadine de Klerk (84*) guided South Africa to victory with de Klerk hammering the Indian bowlers in the last three overs, changing the course of the match with two sixes and a four in one over off Kranti Gaud and two sixes in three balls on Sneh Rana's bowling.

"We agree that our bowling in the last three overs against South Africa was not what we would have liked to bowl. But that defeat is not something that has caused panic in the team. Such things happen; some days, things don't go your way. But we are not worried. There is a lot to play for," said Sneh in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.

"We will remain positive and play positive cricket. There are areas in which we need to improve, and we will practice well and continue to improve ourselves. There were many positives from our last match - in fielding, in bowling, and in handling pressure. So we will stick to our game plan and try and execute it better," said the off-spinner from Dehradun.

The 31-year-old Sneh also played down the Indian batters' perceived shortcomings against left-arm spin bowling, which was again exposed by South Africa's Nonkululeko Mlaba (2-46) and Chloe Tryon (3-32). India have lost 12 wickets to left-arm spinners in three matches in the World Cup and tops the list of teams to have suffered the most against this variety of bowling in ODIs since 2023.

"I don’t think it’s a big concern. Our batters have handled such situations well in the past, and ups and downs are part and parcel of the game. As you know, we have some of the best batters in the world on our side, and I’m confident they’ll bounce back strongly,” she added.

Rana said her team will take a lot of confidence from India's victory over Australia in the recent bilateral series. "The confidence is really high. As I said, we’re going in with a positive mindset. We’ve been planning really well, and everyone is clear about their roles. There’s a lot of clarity in the team, so yes, we’re definitely positive.

"We have beaten them earlier also, and definitely the win in the series just before the World Cup will give us a lot of confidence.

"As you said, the World Cup is a completely different stage, and the pressure is unique. We’ve studied Australia’s style over the years — they’re aggressive — but our plans are very clear. We’ve had detailed discussions and made our strategies, and hopefully, we can make a positive start,” Rana added.

Rana said their familiarity with the conditions in Visakhapatnam, having had a short camp at the ACA-VDCA Stadium before the World Cup, is also a positive for them.

"Yes, the camps really helped because we got familiar with the ground conditions, the dimensions, and how fast the ball travels, which helped our fielding department. Also, understanding how the pitch behaves after the first innings has been useful. So yes, the camp definitely helped us prepare better.

"We’ve played in such situations before, and we know how to tackle them. Definitely, one odd day things might not go according to plan, but I’m very happy with our bowlers; they took the match to the last over and adapted well to the situation. Yes, in the last five overs, we could have performed better, but no worries, we’re looking forward to the next game," she said.

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