Wolvaardt Sits Out as South Africa Crash to Another Loss

South Africa has spiralled to five consecutive losses, with the latest being a 23-run defeat to India in Colombo on Wednesday. This loss took them out of the running for a place in the Tri-Series final on Sunday.

Illness and Humidity Take Toll

Several players in the squad have been struck by illness, and the humidity in Colombo on Wednesday was 91%. Annerie Dercksen said, "It's like playing in a sauna… you lose so much fluid."

Wolvaardt Misses Match

Captain Laura Wolvaardt, South Africa's all-time leading run-scorer in the white-ball formats, missed the match as a precaution due to illness. Stand-in captain Chloe Tryon said, "You want a player like Laura Wolvaardt in your team at any stage… Not being well in these conditions, we need to look after ourselves."

Match Highlights

• India put up 337/9, their highest total in their 33 ODIs against South Africa and the fifth-highest in all 326.
• Dercksen scored 81 off 80 and Tryon hammered a 67-ball 43.
• Tryon and Nadine de Klerk had hit 39 off 17 balls when the umpires halted proceedings for bad light.
• Once off the field, Deepti Sharma nailed Tryon's off stump, effectively deciding the match.

Post-Match Analysis

Tryon said, "need to be braver with our fields, braver with our plans. And more clear with what we want to do." Mandla Mashimbyi said, "If we're looking for those 23 runs, we'll probably find them in how we fielded and how we started with the bat."