ICC Women's World Cup 2017: India vs South Africa, 5 things that went wrong for Mithali Raj's side

#1 India's soft spine exposed

The Indian batter struggled on the night

India's batting in this World Cup has depended a lot on the trio of Poonam Raut, Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj. Their undercooked middle order was exposed against Pakistan and was again in the spotlight against the Proteas. The opening three batters got out cheaply and thus the onus was on the youngster Deepti Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur to resurrect the innings. But Kaur failed and Veda Krishnamurthy also could not trouble the scorers.

India are yet to deliver a collective performance and the spine of this team looks weak and unstable. In the upcoming games against Australia and New Zealand, India will need their batters to join the party and help them reach the semifinals.