Watch: Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Singh become Pakistani fielders, drop the easiest catch of all time against South Africa

India star Pooja Vastrakar, on Monday (July 1), dropped an absolute sitter during the second innings of the recently concluded one-off Test against South Africa at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

The incident took place in the 153rd over when Rajeshwari Gayakwad was bowling to Nadine de Klerk. The South Africa batter was batting on 50 at that time and her wicket was crucial for India. Although South Africa had already lost 9 wickets, de Klerk was threatening to make things complicated for the hosts.

India got the chance to wrap up the South African innings in the 153rd over. On the fourth ball of the over, de Klerk went down on one knee and decided to play a big shot down the ground. However, she ended up miscuing the shot towards mid-off. 

It was a regulation catch but Pooja Vastrakar made an absolute meal of it. She decided to take the catch with the reverse cup and failed to hold on to the catch. She tried to take the catch on the rebound but failed once again. Renuka Singh also made a desperate dive to take the catch but failed. Fortunately for India, the catch did not prove costly as de Klerk scored 11 more runs before becoming the last South African wicket to fall.

Watch the bizarre drop from Pooja Vastrakar:

So Close! Pooja & Renuka let a chance slip away 😞 #INDvSA #IDFCFirstBankWomensTest #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/CCO7n6QV5E

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) July 1, 2024

India win big:

Coming to the game, India beat South Africa by 10 wickets to win the one-off Test. Batting first, India scored a mammoth total of 603 for 6 in the first innings thanks to a double-century from Shafali Verma and a 149-run knock from her opening partner Smriti Mandhana. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur (69), Jemimah Rodrigues (55) and Richa Ghosh (86) also impressed with the bat.

An 8-wicket haul from Sneh Rana then helped India bowl out South Africa for 266 runs. Asked to follow on, South Africa rode on centuries from their captain Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus to score 373 runs in the second innings. Set a target of 37 runs, India chased down the total inside 10 overs without losing a wicket.

"They really batted well. They didn't give an easy win for us. We had to work hard. Credit goes to Shafali and Smriti firstly. Secondly, everyone contributed with the bat. It wasn't easy to field in this heat but everyone contributed. The spinners kept believing that we could take those wickets and win the game," said Harmanpreet Kaur after the win.

"Everyone bowled well and really happy with the performance. When we came in the morning, we knew we only had 100 runs in the pocket. We had to be careful but we needed to keep looking for wickets. We planned really well and stuck to it," added the captain.

Earlier, India had also whitewashed South Africa in the three-match ODI series. Both teams will now be locking horns against each other in the three-match T20I series. The series will be played from July 5 to 9. All the games are scheduled to be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.