South Africa-W records first win in India tour

CHENNAI: After being dismissed just a run short of 150 in the one-off Test, Smriti Mandhana once again fell four runs shy of her half-century. As she came down the ground and the ball drifted off her bat to wicketkeeper Sinalo Jafta, dealing a heavy blow to India-W as momentum shifted towards South Africa-W. They capitalised on it by subsequently removing Dayalan Hemalatha, whose stumps were knocked over by a beautiful length ball from De Klerk as South Africa-W beat India by 12 runs in the first T20I here in Chennai.

Halfway through the innings, two new batters took to the crease and attempted to steer India home, but fell short by 12 runs. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (35) and Jemimah Rodrigues (53*) stitched together a 50-run partnership off 38 balls, appearing to set things right. However, tight overs towards the end from De Klerk proved decisive in helping the Proteas cross the finish line.

Earlier, Pooja Vastrakar tested Tazmin Brits in the second over, conceding just one run. She returned in the last over to dismiss her. Between these key moments, Brits (81) wreaked havoc among Indian bowlers, achieving her best score in T20 internationals.

Skipper Laura Wolvaardt was in fine-form from the outset, taking on Renuka Singh and hitting the first maximum of the evening in the third over. Shreyanka Patil, who replaced Hemalatha, inadvertently grabbed attention for all the wrong reasons by dropping a sitter at backward point off Wolvaardt. Radha Yadav soon dismissed the in-form Wolvaardt, deceiving her with pace as the ball crashed into the stumps. Shortly after, Brits took over with aggressive batting. India’s fielding proved to be a cause for concern, as it was not up to its best. Wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh subsequently left the field, possibly due to injury or sheer embarrassment, having dropped Brits on 51 runs by failing to hold onto the ball in what seemed like an easy catch.

Brits combined with Marizanne Kapp, who also scored a half-century, to test Indian bowlers. Kapp was dropped by Mandhana at mid-off in the tenth over; although Mandhana covered enough ground to reach the ball, she was unlucky and couldn’t hold onto it.

Chloe Tryon and Brits played well towards the end to guide SA-W to a total of 189 runs.

Brief Scores: South Africa-W 189/4 (Tazmin Brits 81, Marizanne Kapp 57) beat India-W 177/4 (Smriti Mandhana 46, Jemimah Rodrigues 53*)