
Fifties from Tazmin Brits and Marizanne Kapp were well complimented by a fine effort from the bowlers as South Africa recorded their first win of the ongoing tour with a 12-run victory over India in the opening women’s T20I in Chennai on Friday. Sent in to bat, South Africa’s brilliant effort helped India’s poor fielding with the bat, ensuring they scored 189 for four, with Britts (81 off 56 balls) and Cup ( 57 off 33 balls) anchored. Innings
In reply, the Indian openers started on a strong note with the opening pair of Shafali Verma (18 off 14 balls) and Smriti Mandhana (46 off 30 balls) scoring 56 off 32 balls before the former perished in the sixth over. Come to Bunga Khaka.
Dayalan Himalatha (14 off 17 balls) then joined Mandhana in the middle and the two put on a 31-run partnership.
But the tourists managed to keep the pressure on, claiming a wicket either side of the drinks.
First Mandhana went to Chloe Trayvon in the 10th over, followed by Hamiltha, who was cleaned out by Nadine de Klerk in the next over, as the score read 87 for three.
After that, captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemima Rodrigues joined hands and took an attacking route with the required run rate increasing.
The duo put on 50 off 38 balls, taking the tie to 47 off 18 balls.
Jemima continued his onslaught and scored his 11th T20 half-century in 29 balls as 21 runs were needed off the last six balls.
But it was not to be as Nonkoliko Malaba held his nerve to concede just eight runs in the last over.
While South Africa had four different wicket-takers, de Klerk’s economy was instrumental in the victory.
There were also some injury concerns and Richa Ghosh was replaced by S Sajna when he fell to the ground first trying to take a catch. Also, Bretts was pulled out of the ground in great pain.
Earlier, Britts and Cup helped South Africa to their highest T20I total against India.
Burts, whose innings came off 56 balls with 10 fours and three sixes, and skipper Laura Wollwardt (33) got off to a cautious start, scoring 50 off 43 balls.
But, the Indians failed to grab a few chances with Volwardt and Kip being dropped in the 4th and 10th overs, while Britts was also dropped later in the 16th over.
The lack of bounce on the pitch allowed Kip and Burts to execute sweep shots effectively.
Pooja and Radha took two wickets each for India, while the former was also quite economical.
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