India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said dropped catches proved costly in her team’s six-wicket loss to South Africa in the Women’s T20 World Cup Group A match on Sunday.India had chances to put South Africa under pressure but failed to hold on to them. Radha Yadav dropped two catches at long-on, giving Marizanne Kapp lifelines. Kapp made the most of those opportunities, remaining unbeaten on 81 from 45 balls with seven fours and four sixes, and took South Africa to victory.“We got a couple of chances in between but couldn’t take those chances,” Harmanpreet, who became the first cricketer in men’s and women’s cricket combined to play 200 T20 Internationals, told the broadcaster after the match, as quoted by news agency PTI.India still have two group-stage matches left, against Bangladesh and Australia, and Harmanpreet said the team needs to stay positive despite the setback.“We have two matches and this is the time to stay positive. Shree Charani and Shafali (Verma) bowled well but the fielders didn’t support them. We have to take opportunities at this level. We were not lucky enough with that.”The Indian captain said the team will review its plans before the remaining matches. India are second in Group A behind Australia, who have won all three of their games. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semifinals.“We have two matches and this is the time to think about that. We will sit and rethink about what to do and then will see the changes to be done,” Harmanpreet said.She also pointed to Kapp’s innings as the turning point of the contest.“She (Kapp) took the game away from us. She gave us two chances and those were the crucial moments and that took the game away from us.”Harmanpreet said there were lessons to take from the defeat and stressed the importance of remaining positive ahead of the next matches.“(There are) lots of learnings, lots of positive moments and lots of moments where I have to stay strong. Now is the time to stay positive and think what to do in the upcoming games. Hopefully we come up better in the next games,” the Indian captain said.South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt praised Kapp’s innings and called it one of the best she has witnessed.“We were very stressed up on the bench there. I think to win from the position that we were in was absolutely incredible and it’s probably one of the best knocks I’ve seen under so much pressure,” Wolvaardt said.She added that beating India, the team that defeated South Africa in the 2025 ODI World Cup final, made the result even more special.“… and to do it against a side that we lost the (2025 ODI World Cup) final to as well is pretty special. She’s probably the biggest big match player that I’ve ever seen. I’m really glad she’s on my team,” she added.
