Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], Jemimah Rodrigues's fifty was in vain as Tazmin Brits' 81 and Marizanne Kapp's half-century, followed by the excellent performance of the bowlers, took South Africa to a 12-run victory against India in the first T20I of the three-match series at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday.
South Africa defended 21 in the final over to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.
Chasing a target of 190, India got off to a good start as openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma imposed their authority, hitting South Africa's bowlers all over the field. The duo led their team to surpass the 50-run mark in powerplay.
However, South Africa broke a strong 56-run partnership between the openers when Ayabonga Khaka cleared Shafali for 18 runs. Dayalan Hemalatha joined Mandhana to maintain the over, as the batsman opened her account with an impressive four.
Mandhana missed her half-century by four runs when Chloe Tryon played a stunning outswing which the India opener missed and fell after scoring 46 runs. Nadine de Klerk then joined the wicket-taking group as she removed Hemalatha for 17.
In the 15th over, Jemimah Rodrigues then smoked Eliz-mari Marx for 15 runs, smashing three boundaries.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur scored 12 runs off Tryon, keeping India in the chase. The 90-run partnership between Harmanpreet and Rodrigues could not lead India to victory as the hosts went down by 12 runs against South Africa.
Earlier, the British's 81-run blitz and Kapp's attentive knock of 57 runs propelled South Africa to a competitive total of 189/4.
For India, Radha Yadav bagged two wickets and conceded 40 runs, while Pooja Vastrakar returned with a figure of 2-23.
Brief Score: South Africa 189/4 (Tazmin Brits 81, Marizanne Kapp 57; Pooja Vastrakar 2-23) vs India 177/4 (Smriti Mandhana 46, Jemimah Rodrigues 53*; Nonkululeko Mlaba 1-32).
South Africa defended 21 in the final over to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.
Chasing a target of 190, India got off to a good start as openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma imposed their authority, hitting South Africa's bowlers all over the field. The duo led their team to surpass the 50-run mark in powerplay.
However, South Africa broke a strong 56-run partnership between the openers when Ayabonga Khaka cleared Shafali for 18 runs. Dayalan Hemalatha joined Mandhana to maintain the over, as the batsman opened her account with an impressive four.
Mandhana missed her half-century by four runs when Chloe Tryon played a stunning outswing which the India opener missed and fell after scoring 46 runs. Nadine de Klerk then joined the wicket-taking group as she removed Hemalatha for 17.
In the 15th over, Jemimah Rodrigues then smoked Eliz-mari Marx for 15 runs, smashing three boundaries.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur scored 12 runs off Tryon, keeping India in the chase. The 90-run partnership between Harmanpreet and Rodrigues could not lead India to victory as the hosts went down by 12 runs against South Africa.
Earlier, the British's 81-run blitz and Kapp's attentive knock of 57 runs propelled South Africa to a competitive total of 189/4.
For India, Radha Yadav bagged two wickets and conceded 40 runs, while Pooja Vastrakar returned with a figure of 2-23.
Brief Score: South Africa 189/4 (Tazmin Brits 81, Marizanne Kapp 57; Pooja Vastrakar 2-23) vs India 177/4 (Smriti Mandhana 46, Jemimah Rodrigues 53*; Nonkululeko Mlaba 1-32).
