After drubbing South Africa 3-0 in the ODI series, India Women clinch the one-off Test match as well. Now both sides will lock horns for a 3-match T20I series starting on July 5. We hope you enjoyed our coverage of this engrossing Test match. For now, it's time to bid adieu. Deepak Prakash taking your leave on behalf of co-commentators Ninaad Dixit, Pritam Dey, and scorer/analyst Dushyant Madhukar Kumar. CHEERS!
BEST BOWLING FIGURES IN A WOMEN'S TEST MATCH FOR INDIA:
10/78 - Jhulan Goswami v England at Taunton, 2006
10/188 - Sneh Rana v South Africa at Chennai, 2024*
9/39 - Deepti Sharma v England at Navi Mumbai, 2023
Harmanpreet Kaur collects the trophy and joins her teammates for the photographs.
10-Wicket Victories for India in Women's Tests:
v South Africa at Paarl, 2002
v South Africa at Chennai, 2024*
Harmanpreet Kaur (India Women Captain): "They batted really well, and I think we worked very hard for this. Credit goes first to Smriti and Shafali's partnership, which set a platform for us. Secondly, I think everyone in the team contributed really well with the bat.
I think everyone in the team contributed really well to winning this game. Hats off to our bowlers, especially the spinners, who kept believing they could take those wickets and secure the win.
The bowlers earned the trust to keep bowling, with our medium pacers also doing a great job. Our support staff pushed us at every break, creating that energy. I was a bit greedy and kept giving the ball to the three spinners, while also sharing the responsibility.
When we came in the morning, we knew we had only a hundred runs in our pocket. We spoke to our bowling unit that today we needed to be careful, not giving away easy boundaries while constantly hunting for wickets. Planning meticulously and sticking to it paid off well for us as a bowling unit."
Sneh Rana (Player of the Match): "Feeling really great to contribute on such an occasion. Tough to describe in words. Body is quite fresh after fielding for so many overs. In the start the pitch was difficult for the spinners with not much turn. Later on we got a lot of turn and bounce. The South African batters balanced the game but our bowling attack fought back.
Playing a Test match is a big thing and special. Winning this award is beyond description. I also want to say one thing. People say that playing off spinners is very easy but I hope those people got an answer today."
Sneh Rana is the player of the match!
Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa Women Captain): "The character shown by this group in the last couple of days has been absolutely incredible. Conceding 500 runs on day one was obviously not ideal, and I don't think many people expected us to take it all the way to 4:00 p.m. on the fourth day. I am very proud of the group and the character we demonstrated.
There are a lot of small areas to consider. We fought very hard to secure a draw. Each batter probably feels they could have stayed in longer. If we had restricted them a bit more on day one, things might have been different. There are many moments to look back on, but I am still very proud of where we are now.
I think each batter had the mindset to stay in as long as they could. Players like de Klerk, Sune Luus, and Kapp, known for their explosive cricket, showed their ability to graft and block balls at the end. It was very heartwarming to see."