India women beat South Africa by 11 runs in first T20I

Spinner Deepti Sharma bowled three maiden overs in her four-over quota and took three wickets as India eked out a 11-run win over South Africa.

India Women's team captain Harmanpreet Kaur.

Hello and welcome to Sportstar's coverage of the first T20I between India Women and South Africa Women.

 

Team News: 15-year-old Shafali Verma is all set to make her debut.

Toss Update: South Africa women have won the toss and opted to field first.

Playing XI:

India Women:  Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Veda Krishnamurthy, Poonam Yadav, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Taniya Bhatia(w), Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey.

South Africa: Lizelle Lee(w), Tazmin Brits, Laura Wolvaardt, Nadine de Klerk, Mignon du Preez, Sune Luus(c), Nondumiso Shangase, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune.

Squads:

South Africa Women: Lizelle Lee(w), Tazmin Brits, Laura Wolvaardt, Nadine de Klerk, Sune Luus(c), Lara Goodall, Nondumiso Shangase, Anne Bosch, Ayabonga Khaka, Shabnim Ismail, Mignon du Preez, Sinalo Jafta, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nonkululeko Mlaba

India Women : Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Veda Krishnamurthy, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia(w), Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Anuja Patil, Mansi Joshi, Pooja Vastrakar, Harleen Deol

South Africa Women have won the toss in the first @Paytm T20I in Surat and have decided to bowl first. pic.twitter.com/dljLmMuyg8

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) September 24, 2019

 

Preview

India’s women cricketers will commence their final phase of the World T20 preparation on Tuesday with a five-match T20I series against South Africa at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium here.

Considering the World T20 will start in Australia on February 21, captain Harmanpreet Kaur understands that the five T20Is under lights — India Women’s first floodlit outing in a bilateral series at home — will offer her and coach W.V. Raman an opportunity to test the younger talent that has been blooded in the squad.

The fact the the team has several young faces with 15-year-old Shafali Verma stealing the limelight at the onset of post-Mithali Raj era in T20Is.

The legendary Raj recently announced her retirement from the shortest format. It will be interesting to see whether the younger batters can grab the opportunity and the senior pros like Smriti Mandhana and Kaur can shoulder the additional burden against a familiar opponent.

Raman also conceded that four pacers were chosen in the squad “keeping the World T20 in mind”. It remains to be seen if a youngster like Pooja Vastrakar, who has been recalled, can put in impressive performances.