IND-W vs SA-W First ODI Highlights: Asha Sobhana, Smriti Mandhana star in India’s 143-run thumping of South Africa in Bengaluru

I think because of Smriti and Deepti yes, was a good start. Pooja also contributed well.

Message was clear, just be there, keep backing urself, long batting line up, lot of batter who can bat all the way, only few can do that, today Smriti and Deepti did that for us

They really love this format cause you can execute your skills well 

Harmanpreet did not reveal much on Pooja Vastrakar’s injury

Not the ideal way to start the series. 260 was a fairly decent score, fairly chaseable but we needed that one person to stay throughout. Bowlers did pretty well, we lost our way with the bat.

No, I wouldnt say that (on whether her wicket was turning the point)

I just kept it simple, was in good rhythm, continued. didnt wanna do somethign extraordinary, do basics. there was a lot of turn so didnt wanna give lot of pace to the batters, stadium very special to me, bengaluru very special to me. Pitch is amazing, but a bit of my work also (laughs). I woke up morning and prayed to god all goes well, wanted to bowl in right areas. (team) told me to enjoy, go out there and explore. not really (on not getting five-for), happy that i contributed for my nation. 

A proper RCB players’ day out in Bengaluru. 

Hundred for Smriti Mandhana

Four-fer for Asha Sobhana

Asha Sobhana comes in hungry for another wicketa and she’ll get it. Ayabonga Khaka produces a big top edge with Ghosh taking a clean catch. Four wickets for the debutant and a big win for India to get the multiformat series off to the best of starts. 

WICKET Ayabonga Khaka c †Ghosh b Sobhana 0 (7b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0

Radha to bowl out. Can she add to her wicket tally? Jafta is a lone warrior here for SA with Ayabonga Khaka for company. India one wicket away from a cherished victory. No. She gives off just one run to finish. 

Asha returns for her eight over. After two dots, Masabata Klaas tries to swing at the ball but a thick edge lands in Radha Yadav’s safe hands at point. Asha celebrates quietly. What an incredible debut for the leggie. 

WICKET Masabata Klaas c Yadav b Sobhana 1 (5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 20

SHE DOESN’T STOP THERE. From spinner to spinner, Mlaba’s stumps are knocked off. Tossed outside leg this which comes in and crashes into the stumps. 

WICKET Nonkululeko Mlaba b Sobhana 0 (3b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0

Radha continues. Sinola Jafta is looking very encouraging here. She comes down the crease and swats the ball through mid-on for FOUR. Nice shot this and it is a good sign for South Africa to see her take on the spinners. 

Harmanpreet to continue. Some shoddy fielding from India in this over. There’s a chance to dismiss Klaas when she gets a sharp top edge with Harman and Shreyanka from extra cover converging to take the catch. Lands safely, players collide and it’s laughed off. Jemimah misfields a pull from Jafta at the fence to allow the ball through to the ropes. It gives Jafta the confidence to find the boundary again, this time a nice confident strike over the bowler’s head. 

Radha Yadav comes in for her eighth and she will open her wickets account for this series trapping Nondumiso Shingase leg before. 

WICKET Nondumiso Shangase lbw b Yadav 8 (24b 1x4 0x6) SR: 33.33

Masabata Klaas is the new batter. Radha is getting good turn here as she beats Klaas who comes down to defend with some sharp turn

Harmanpreet Kaur with the ball now. Pitching in for Pooja Vastrakar. A chaotic first ball with a potential run out but India makes a mess of it. Shangase gets the ball to short third, runs. The throw is poor. It goes over the keeper’s head. Shangase looks to run another on the overthrow but Jafta sends her back. With a chance at that end, the throw goes to Harmanpreet but it isn’t smooth enough to collect. The India skipper is not happy. She clearly wants to wind up the SA innings quickly. Jafta then sends a half volley from Harman to the fence through mid off. A nice shot this. The South Africa 100 comes up. She then takes a single on the offside. 

How far can SA go with its tail? 

Radha Yadav comes in. Jafta can’t clear the infield for the first four deliveries. She then manages to pull the ball to midwicket for a single after which Shangase swipes even more forcefully to backward square for a single to retain strike. 

Pace returns, with Renuka bowling her seventh. Three dots as Jafta struggles to find room to score. She makes space square of the wicket on the off side and brings Shangase on strike. No more runs from this over. 

Deepti to continue. Off spin leg spin combo from India. LBW appeal off the second ball by Deepti and the batter in question is the all-important Sune Luus. Pitched outside off, Sune Luus stepped out and came to the ball on the front foot. Umpire isn’t convinced. Richa Ghosh looks at her skipper and says “Le lo, le lo, review”. Replays show there’s a knick from the ball hitting her gloves. Sune Luus survives. Not for too long apparently, as Deepti catches her off guard off the very next ball. Umpire raises his finger now. Luus reviews. Deepti bowls in the stump line this time and it’s hit her low on the pad. Now we need to see if there was bat involved. 

Luus falling could be the final frontier of resistance for South Africa 

No bat involved. Three reds. OUT. 

WICKET Sune Luus lbw b Sharma 33 (58b 4x4 0x6) SR: 56.89

Sinola Jafta is the new batter. She gets off the mark pushing the ball in the point region for a quick single.

Asha continues in her seventh over. Luus takes a quick single. Shangase produces a big top edge while trying to swish the ball to the leg side, lands safely. Would have had her heart in her mouth there. Luus swats a outside off-drifting delivery to mid on for a single. Shangase finally manages to find a gap to send the ball rolling to the boundary. Asha pitches to the leg stump line and gives Shangase enough room to swat the ball by going low. 

Deepti Sharma replaces Radha Yadav. Bowls into Sune Luus who defends promptly. Luus drives the ball to long off for the sole run from this over. 

Asha comes in, gives two runs and returns. Incredible spell from the leggie. 

Pressure is on Sune Luus as the more established batter here as she has Shangase for company. She strikes two boundaries off this Radha Yadav over first between cover and mid-off and another past the bowler. SA needs more of this. Can Luus do what Mandhana did for India? Who will support her? 

Asha returns. Dercksen is struggling to get off the mark. Oh there’s a top edge here which Jemimah drops but she’s quick to dart the ball to Richa at the striker’s end with Dercksen well short of her crease. One debutant falls in another debutant’s over. This could have been Asha’s second but she’s happy with India getting another scalp. 

A wicket maiden. 

WICKET Annerie Dercksen run out (Rodrigues/†Ghosh) 1 (12b 0x4 0x6) SR: 8.33

Radha Yadav comes in to keep the brakes on SA. Just two runs conceded, including a failed LBW appeal. Luus and Dercksen deseprately need to find their footing. 

Asha returns. Looking for a wicket. And she gets it. The big fish - Marizanne Kapp. 

Goes full and wide to the allrounder and Kapp cuts the ball but straight to Harmanpreet Kaur at cover. The Indian skipper won’t be squandering any of these chances. 

WICKET Marizanne Kapp c Kaur b Sobhana 24 (39b 1x4 1x6) SR: 61.53

Annerie Dercksen is the new batter and she has a job to do with former skipper Sune Luus. 

Renuka with an over of pace. South Africa just can’t get going. Just two runs again. They need to find a way to rotate strike and at least keep the scoreboard ticking at a healthier rate. 

Asha comes in from the other end. Luus is beaten while trying to cut the ball. Another dot to follow. She finally manages a single through deep point. Asha pegs things back with two dot balls. Luus and Kapp are looking to find the gaps, but the spinners are able to keep things in check. 

Renuka returns. Sticking to a fuller length and attempts a yorker. Two dots. Kapp now opens up, dispatching a half volley for four through extra cover. She follows it up with a six over long on. Much needed boundaries for the Proteas. 12 runs in total for SA in this over. 

Radha comes in for her fourth. A quiet over. Off the third ball, Pooja Vastrakar fields a delivery and throws it back and ends up stressing her left knee. She is in pain as she winces face down on the ground. Not good signs at all for India and the pacer who has a long and frustrating injury history. The India physios are helping her off the field and she is struggling to sit on the mat for physio assistance.

Asha comes in for her second. Sune Luus breaks free, goes over the mid on for FOUR. WHIPPED. Team fifty comes up. She then thumps the ball to long on for a single. Kapp also manages to get on the backfoot and punch the ball deep on the offside for a single. Six runs come off the seventeenth over. 

Deepti returns. South Africa in survival mode. A couple of singles for Luus and Kapp, but largely, there doesn’t seem to be an intent to make more of the deliveries at this stage. South Africa runs the risk of piling up too much to do with too little time and potentially resources later on. Three runs come off the over. 

It was a little two-paced wicket, it was not a bad wicket to bat, one-odd ball was keeping low, another was taking off, it’s not a bad wicket to bat on and that’s why I mentioned we need to go out and bowl well.

At the same stage, India was 64/3. 

Asha Sobhana now bowls her first over in international One-Days. Kapp begins with a single. Sune Luus cuts to point, but there’s no room for a single. Plenty of humidity in the air it looks like in Bengaluru. Luus manages to cut to sweeper cover for a single. Kapp can’t break free, with a tight inner circle plugging any possibility of runs. Two runs from Asha’s first. 

Radha Yadav returns for her third. Nice spin strangle here from Deepti and Co. Luus and Kapp are in part unable and unwilling to try anything even moderately risky. Another two run over. Good work here by the Indian bowling contingent. 

Deepti Sharma comes in for her third. Kapp and Luus are on strike. Very seasoned campaigners. Kapp tries to flick it to the leg side but a thick edge goes to Shreyanka at short cover. It bounces before it gets to her hand. What have been an incredible catch, she did nothing wrong. Just two runs from the over from Deepti. 

South Africa needs to increase their run rate. Currently at just over three runs per over, the required run rate has touched the six-run mark. A few boundaries can surely help.

Another great over from the Indian bowling attack as Deepti Sharma just gives away one run and takes the wicket of Brits.

Deepti Sharma gets her first wicket of the match as Luus comes down the pitch for a big shot but only gets an edge that falls favourably to Radha Yadav at point for a catch. Brits goes for 18 off 31 balls. In comes experienced Marizanne Kapp.

FOW: 33/3 (10.1)

A good start from Yadav in the over was countered by Luus with a shot through the covers as she gave herself some space to push the ball for a four. Those were the only runs in this over for the Proteas.

Radha Yadav steps up in place of Pooja Vastrakar. From a pacy attack, to a spinning one!

Another economical over from the Indian bowlers, this time from Sharma. Just two runs from the over, both singles.

Deepti Sharma replaces Renuka Thakur and bowls to Brits.

Vastrakar continues to bowl extremely well, keeping the South African on her toes and wary of their shots. Just the one run conceded in her fourth over.

Brits gets another boundary under her belt with a shot that wasn’t well timed but the ball still ran down the ground towards the boundary line. A single to end the over.

A wicket maiden for Vastrakar as she takes Bosch’s wicket and prevents her teammates from making any runs in this last over.

A great delivery from the pacer that gets plum on Anneke Bosch’s pads. An appeal from the bowler and the umpire signals out. Bosch goes for just five as Sune Luus comes on the pitch.

FOW: 21/1 (5.2)

Another great over from Thakur as she gives away just the one run. There was a run out scare for the batter with substitute Shreyanka Patil aiming for the stumps at an empty non-striker’s end, but the throw was some distance away. Patil has come on in place of injured Smriti Mandhana.

A four from the over with Brits playing it nicely. Rest of the over saw dot balls courtesy Vastrakar’s swinging deliveries.

Thakur getting a lot of movement with the ball as the swing bamboozles the batter on strike, but Bosch cuts it through the offside between two fielders for a four. Just five runs from the over.

Another boundary for the Proteas, this time by Brits who flicks the ball off of her pads towards deep square. Seven off the over. Thakur back with the ball.

Excellent start for India, thanks to Renuka Thakur’s precise bowling that got Wolvaardt’s wicket early on in the innings. Next up, Pooja Vastrakar with the ball.

Early loss for South Africa as their skipper falls to Thakur’s ball as it takes off the bails in the first over itself! Wolvaardt goes for just four runs. In comes Anneke Bosch.

It’s skipper Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits who will open the Proteas’ chase at a ground that is historically known to favour the side that chases. Renuka Thakur has been handed the responsibility to start India’s defense.

- India did well to recover to 265/8 after being painfully slow through 70% of its batting innings

- Nice variable bounce on the surface, certainly plenty in the wicket for batters and bowlers

- India’s dot ball rate early on is a big concern. The late flourish might have saved the side some blushes, but it is a pain point that needs to be addressed

- Smriti Mandhana’s century, fluency in difficult situations a big plus for India in a World Cup year

- South Africa’s bowling was disciplined for most parts, may have let the foot off the pedal for the final ten overs, which allowed India to capitalise

- Marizanne Kapp’s absense was felt particularly in the death

Dercksen will finish the innings. Begin with a single. Dercksen then bowls a chest high full toss to Vastrakar. No ball given. Asha and Pooja run a tight single, but Asha looks short. Dercksen is thrown the ball, but she strikes the stumps without the ball in hand. Replays confirm Asha’s safety. Asha then tries to smack the ball through cover and mid off and the fielder in the inner circle cannot stop the ball. The crowd loves it! She then tries to pull the ball to the square leg fence, but fall short. Some chaotic running ensues, no run out but just the single to finish. Nice intent there, even if a bit risky from Asha. India ends with 265/8. 

Khaka bowls out. Stingy with the runs as she gives off a dot and two singles. She’s bowling stump to stump but varying her lengths a little bit. Another single for Vastrakar. Radha tries to do something different as she scoops the ball trying to find the boundary. But she’s sent it straight to Mlaba at that short fine leg region. 

WICKET Radha Yadav c Mlaba b Khaka 6 (7b 0x4 0x6) SR: 85.71

Asha Sobhana, the debutant, is the new batter in and is off the mark with a single. Just four runs off the over. 

Dercksen bowls her ninth. Her second spell has been more expensive, and this over follows suite. Radha manages two pulling a short delivery behind square leg. She then gets a single through long on. Dercksen recovers with a yorker, but Vastrakar then manages the smack the ball to the fence through backward point. A single to finish from Vastrakar as Dercksen gives away eight runs. 

Klaas comes in to bowl. Smriti tries to pull her to the backward square leg fence, but holes out to Sune Luus. A valiant innings comes to an end. Big hugs come her way in the dugout. 

WICKET Smriti Mandhana c Luus b Klaas 117 (127b 12x4 1x6) SR: 92.12

Radha Yadav is the new batter in. Klaas alternates with the short and length deliveries, Radha and Pooja get a few singles. Just the three runs come off the over. 

Khaka in for her ninth over. Mandhana begins with two runs after trying to whip the ball high behind the keeper. She then gets another lifeline, with Kapp dropping her despite a sliding effort deep midwicket. Fairly regulation catch, but Kapp can’t hold on. Khaka gets another chance to unsettle Smriti with a yorker but she manages to squiggle her way out, with the ball running away for FOUR. 

Dercksen bowls her eighth. Begins with a single. Then goes wide to Smriti. She switches to bowling around the wicket now. Goes short to Smriti who pulls and runs two. She is visibly struggling. Her legs are giving way now. A couple of singles follow. Pooja then smacks the ball straight down the ground with the full face of the bat for FOUR. The bowler will have the symbolic last word as she beats Pooja who is left awkwardly defending her stumps. A low delivery. Nice recovery. 

Khaka bowling her eighth. Begins with a single, a wide and a single. She’s going fuller in this over. Vastrakar is trying to anchor one end as the adrenaline rush of the century is allowing Smriti the energy to open her arms a bit more. She pierces the infield square of the wicket and gets FOUR. Nine runs come from this over for India. 

Klaas returns. Vastrakar sends a ball coming onto her pads to square leg for a single. Smriti then hits the first SIX of the match, lofting the ball, a good length delivery, over mid off. She then nudges the ball down long off to bring up her sixth ODI hundred. This is the second vs SA. She has scored almost 50% of the team’s runs today, fighting some discomfort in her toes and calf muscles. 

Mlaba comes in for her eighth over. Smriti goes for the slog sweep off a full length delivery, but gets just a single. A fairly quiet over ensues, just four runs come off it. 

Mandhana flicks it towards deep backward leg for a boundary and enters her nineties.

Mlaba almost scalps Pooja Vastrakar’s wicket in her seventh over. Only one run in the over. Only 10 overs to go now. Can India breach the 250-run mark?

Mandhana’s looking for the big shots as she slowly walks towards her century, but still not getting them. Shangase finishes her spell in this match with a single wicket and conceding 54 runs in those 10 overs.

Vastrakar didn’t take a lot of time to settle in there! First ball and she slashes it through to the covers, more square, for a boundary. Two more singles and that was Khaka’s seventh over.

Khaka’s cross-seam ball hits the edge of Sharma’s bat as the batter gets played on and the bails come off.

IND 180/6 at 37.1 overs

Pooja Vastrakar is the new batter on the crease.

Strain in the leg? No worries for Smriti as she goes down the ground for a boundary. Two dot balls later, Smriti sweeps it towards square leg for another boundary. Eight off the over.

Another good over for South Africa as Dercksen concedes only two runs. Mandhana, on the other hand, continues to limp as she takes the strike for the next over.

There was a moment in the over when the South African side thought they had scalped the all important wicket of Smriti Mandhana, but the DRS review said not out. However, she sits down on to the ground after the next ball, clearly struggling with a niggle.

Shangase continues. Couple of singles for both batters as Shangase goes length or full to the left-handed pair. Deepti then sweeps well to find the boundary as she picks the line so well. FOUR. PLayed nice and fine to know exactly where the gap is. Shangase goes short and wide next and beats the fielder in the inner circle as it runs away to the outfield. Kapp stops it. Just two runs. Deepti manages a single while Mandhana safely ends the over with a dot ball. Five overs, 30 balls to go. What can India do?

Klaas got just one over there in the middle as Wolvaardt goes back to Dercksen. Rising up to Smriti who gets it away to deep square leg for a single. Deepti defends on the front foot in the next delivery. Dercksen sends it in short next, going up to her face. Deepti tries to pull, but just a single. Dercksen goes short to Smriti again, safely restricted at midwicket for just a single. A dot to follow. Deepti again tries to get this fine for a few runs but can only find a single to retain strike as well. 

Shangase continues. Mandhana nudges the ball to sweeper cover for a single. Deepti finds a boundary this time, paddle sweeping a full delivery on the pads for FOUR. Two more singles come off the over. 

While running that final run last over, something happened and Smriti ended with a bit of a limp. The physio is out, something is being assessed. Bandaging happening for her big toe. 

Klaas returns. Smriti runs a single, pulled to deep backward square. Deepti tries to cut the ball, but can’t get away for two deliveries. It’s been 45 deliveries since the last boundary. And it looks like Smriti was listening. She pulls through deep midwicket for FOUR . Appreciation from Deepti Sharma, the pair brings up a fifty-run stand as well. Mandhana finishes with a single to retain strike. Team 150 also comes up. 

Shangase returns. Begins with three dots. Make that four. Tight line to Smriti who has no room to send the ball anywhere. Shangase is fielding the ball of her own bowling. Off the fifth, she tries to nudge the ball to the leg side to squeeze a run, but it doesn’t go anywhere. Finally manages to run a single off the final ball to retain strike, sending the ball down mid off. Just the one run from this over. This partnership now at 44 runs off 56 balls. 

Klaas with the ball. Deepti guides the ball to third man for a single. Klaas moves to a shorter delivery to Mandhana who pushes this to sweeper cover where Sune Luus has stopped the ball. Klaas tightens her line, first going straight to the stumps and then slightly drifting outside off. Just two runs from Klaas. 

Anneke Bosch resumes. Deepti and Smriti have been scoring a better rate than their colleagues today, because they are trying to go for a single minimum. Their partnership is currently at 38 runs off 40 balls. What can they do here? Can India manage a 250+ score? Bosch is oscillating between length and fuller deliveries. Indians sticking to strike rotation. 

Mlaba returns. Deepti sees a gap near the fine leg area and tries to cheekily guide the ball there. WIll only manage a bye. The pair are ok with dealing with singles. Four runs off the over and a drinks break will be taken.

Wolvaardt has gone for a part-timer now. Anneke Bosch comes in. Is Wolvaardt saving a few overs from her frontline bowlers for the death? But is that being a tad defensive? Bosch comes into the lefthander and India is cautiously taking singles off of her. The Indian batters seem to have settled into a slightly defensive way of batting. Deliveries that are well within Deepti’s choice areas are being tapped for singles. Six runs off the over for India. 

Mlaba returns. Indians are running between the wickets to keep the score ticking. A decent way to counter the dot ball problem, but not the best. Mlaba then goes wide and Deepti manages to nudge it towards the boundary for FOUR. Nine runs off this over. 

Shangase continues. Deepti sweeps fine for FOUR. No personnel there, smart batting from the India allrounder. She runs a single to bring the half centurion back on strike. India needs to amp up its scoring rate a bit. Wolvaardt is settling into a more attacking bowling style now. Four runs are run in singles. Eight off the over. India at 116/5 at the halfway mark. 

Khaka returns. Two singles to begin with for the pacer. She’s going at an economy of 3.00. Very impressive from the South African. Two dot balls follow, with the inner fielders doing a wonderful job in keeping the stranglehold on runs in place. Deepti runs a single off the last ball to retain strike. 

Shangase to continue. Smriti Mandhana gets to her fifty, a fighting knock here when her partners are struggling to find their footing in this innings. A confident way to start the series too, with a host of big-ticket international fixtures (including the Asia Cup) coming up.

Khaka returns. Single for Mandhana to begin with, an outside edge that runs away to third man. Richa also gets a single, cutting the ball to third. Mandhana edges again to third, but runs the single. There’s some tension building and it culminates in a wicket - a BIG ONE - Richa Ghosh who edges to the keeper. Sinalo Jafta having a great game so far and she is ecstatic, this is a big wicket. 

WICKET Richa Ghosh c †Jafta b Khaka 3 (5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 60

Deepti Sharma, playing her 200th international game, is the new batter in. Will see off her first ball safely. 

Shangase bowls the 21st. Smriti Mandhana gets a single off the first ball, sending the delivery to sweeper cover. Jemimah falls off the very next ball, holing out to Kapp at the fence. Shangase tosses it up to Jemimah, who tries to slog sweep. Gets on one knee. She doesn’t get the power to get it over with Kapp waiting to take a very simple catch. 

WICKET Jemimah Rodrigues c Kapp b Shangase 17 (28b 1x4 0x6) SR: 60.71

Richa Ghosh is the new batter. Loud cheers of RCB RCB as the two batters in the middle belong to the triumphant WPL outfit. She gets off the mark trickling the ball along the ground to the bowler. The pair run a few singles. Lot of discipline with the ball from South Africa, but India’s pace of scoring is becoming a little concerning. Creased foreheads in the Indian dressing room. 

Dercksen returns for her second spell. Her slower ball on the third ball surely caught Smriti off guard as her bat’s edge catches the ball, sending it not too far from the pitch. Only three off the over.

The Indians on the crease continue to take on the spinners with much care, mostly taking singles and a few twos on the way if the stroke reaches the outfield.

Great pull shot by Jemimah as she hits the ball for a boundary through mid-wicket on the third ball of the ball. A rare boundary as India mostly resorting to singles.

Sparse crowd to start with. But there are people outside waiting to enter. Of the lot present inside, they have started RCB RCB chants while Smriti Mandhana is batting.

Only the single run from the over as Shangase begins her spell well.

South Africa keeps with the vein of some spin bowling.

That’s a nasty blow to the Jemimah’s helmet courtesy a Klaas bouncer, but the batter seems to be okay. Sensible running between the wickets as India adds five runs in this over.

Quite a slow bout of running between the wickets as there’s a slight confusion between the two batters on the first ball as they barely scrape together two runs. Great shot by Mandhana as she guides the ball smoothly through the covers, and between the fielders on the off side on the fourth ball. She takes a single to keep the strike on the last ball.

The pace of the game has slowed down as the wickets fell for India. Jemimah and Smriti are probably taking it slow, trying not to lose any more wickets as there’s a long way to go in this match. Only a couple of runs as Klaas’ bowling only allowed for so much.

The batters at the crease continue to take singles and bat smartly when its Mlaba bowling.

Just two runs conceded in the over as the debutant pacer will surely get a huge boost of confidence with that over.

South Africa puts a slip in place as the new batter take on the debutant pacer.

It’s the debutant Dercksen who takes the wicket. The ball was at a fuller length and Kaur tries to scoop it over, but fails to get enough distance on it. Laura Woolvaardt takes a comfortable catch to dismiss the Indian skipper.

Indian duo Smriti-Harmanpreet wary of the danger spinner Mlaba brings, and thereby taking it slow with a couple of singles.

Dercksen returns. Smriti dispatches her for back to back boundaries. Lot of gaps on the onside and Smriti is happy to capitalise. Short ball outside off, swivelled to square leg fence. She then goes over the infield and sends the ball darting through midwicket. Dercksen went shorter off the second delivery. Smriti has plenty of time and room to plan these shots. The pacer switches to a fuller length. Shanghase keeps it to a single. A dot ball follows and Harman gets a run courtesy a sweep to backward square. Dercksen then goes wide through the leg side, but low. Smriti manages to find a run there. Harman runs a single to retain strike. 

Nonkululeko Mlaba is the bowler in and has a wicket off her second ball. Hemalatha was starting to chop at deliveries and reach for runs. Off the second ball, a tossed up delivery to the right-hander, Hema tries to go big with a big swing. She gets height, but no distance at all. Looks to go through midwicket, but holes out to Nondumiso Shangase at mid-off. 

WICKET Dayalan Hemalatha c Shangase b Mlaba 12 (16b 1x4 0x6) SR: 75

Harmanpreet Kaur is the new batter. Gets off the mark paddling away to a couple of runs. Mlaba gives Harmanpreet some room, nice and short too and it’s dispatched to the backward point boundary. FOUR. A dot to finish. 

Nonkululeko Mlaba comes in for Ayabonga Khaka 

Dane van Niekerk has glowing words for Annerie Dercksen, calls her the next Marizanne Kapp. She gets plenty of bounce right up front as she pitches the ball up to Hemalatha. She can’t get bat on it and the keeper collects. DVN hopes Dercksen gains more control over that bounce and movement she’s getting. Her first over here and she’s given away just a single run. This included a peach of a delivery which seamed away from Smriti and could have put her in all kinds of trouble. Delightful contest this. 

Annerie Dercksen replaces Masabata Klaas 

Khaka resumes. Two dots to begin, first a fuller delivery and the other one a few hints shorter. Mandhana finds the fielders in both cases. Khaka goes short again and this time, Mandhana pulls the ball to the fence for FOUR. She does this so well, that swivel to go square. So effortless. No more runs conceded. Smriti is beaten, swing and a miss, to end the over and she has a coy smile plastered on her face as the ends change. 

Klaas resumes. Ohhh drama off the first ball. A hint of indecision about the run from Hemalatha. Smriti charged but Hemalatha halted for a few seconds, given the ball has gone just to short midwicket. Tazmin Brits collected the ball and threw it to the stumps and missed. If she had hit the target, Hema was out by a mile! Lucky. Mandhana runs a single off a length ball, through fine leg this. Hemalatha gets a shorter delivery and tries to pull it but doesn’t get any distance. A slight mishit this as it looked very awkward. Tazmin Brits collects the balls and this time splits the stumps, but the batters are safely in. Hemalatha gets her boundary, FINALLY, cuts a short ball to the point boundary. 

Khaka continues. A very quiet over as the pair look to see off the movement Khaka is getting here safely. No need for haste from India and that’s what this pair is doing. Just the one run from this over. 

Masabata Klaas returns. Stump line to begin with from the seamer. Crams Shafali for space. She then switches to a wider line, tempting Shafali to drive and Shafali bites the bait. Thick edge goes to the slip cordon and a flying Sinalo Jafta takes a one handed catch. Brilliant from South Africa. Shafali walks back to the pavilion. 

WICKET Shafali Verma c †Jafta b Klaas 7 (12b 1x4 0x6) SR: 58.33

India sends out Hemalatha in the number 3 position. She gets off the mark with a couple of runs and a single. Just three runs off this over. Nice recovery by Klaas. 

Khaka returns. Shafali punches a length ball to mid on, no run. Another punch to mid off now after Khaka goes a bit fuller this time. Boundary for Shafali. Drifts the ball outside off, Shafali goes after it, produces an outside edge which beats the keeper and slip fielder and runs away to the fence. She gets an edge again, but this time, just one run comes off it. Mandhana on strike now. 

Masabata Klaas pairs Khaka from the other end. Mandhana on strike now. The India vice captain defends the first ball, but Klaas pitches the next one outside off, gives Smriti plenty of room to whip out her signature cover drive. Nice juicy half volley. OH hold on, back-to-back boundaries for the RCB captain. A fuller delivery from Klaas, a square drive now from Mandhana. Wolvaardt is moving personnel as she brings pulls out the slip fielder to patrol the offside vs Mandhana. Dane van Niekerk is not happy on comms as SA is slipping into a slightly defensive mindset. Klaas sees the next three balls through without conceding a run, sticking to length deliveries with a little room on the offside. Mandhana finds fielders. Just the eight runs from the over. 

Ayabonga Khaka will open the bowling for South Africa. Shafali the batter on strike. Full and up to the pads, is flicked away to midwicket for a couple. Dot ball to follow as Khaka beats Shafali with the ball drifting outside off. Another delivery drifting outside off, Shafali defends. Khaka has managed some swing early on. The ball isn’t coming onto the bat as well as one would like. Shafali steps out to drive the ball, but finds the fielder at extra cover. Khaka then goed for a length ball outside off and Shafali is beaten once more as the ball heads to the keeper. She then open bats a back-of-a-length delivery to backward point. Brilliant over from Khaka who has the added responsibility of spearheading the pace attack in Marizanne Kapp’s absence. Kapp is playing but will n not bowl in this game for workload management. 

D Hemalatha is padded up as Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana walk out to open the innings. India coach Amol Muzumdar has positioned Richa Ghosh as the preferred number three batter. But is India going to favour Hema today?

Former SA captain Sune Luus is one five-for away from equalling the record of most five-fors in Women’s ODIs

Deepti Sharma is playing her 200th international game. Veteran

A busy cricketing season which will culminate in the T20 World Cup gets underway today for the Women in Blue. After the Bangladesh tour, the players have had some time to rest and recuperate and will now want to put their best feet forward in finding rhythm ahead of the T20 showpiece in Bangladesh in October. 

South Africa XI: Laura Wolvaardt, Tazmin Brits, Anneke Bosch, Suné Luus, Marizanne Kapp, Annerie Dercksen, Nondumiso Shangase, Sinalo Jafta, Masabata Klaas Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeko Mlaba

India XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, D Hemalatha, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, S Asha, Renuka Singh

Harmanpreet Kaur has won the toss and opted to bat. 

India has given Asha Sobhana her maiden ODI cap. South Africa has also handed Annerie Dercksen her maiden ODI cap. 

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IND-W vs SA-W preview: India, South Africa eye building momentum, fitness of Jemimah, Pooja in focus

India, which had lost the ODI and T20I series against Australia, came roaring back, blanking Bangladesh 5-0 in a recent away T20I series, and the host would like to build on it further.

India Women has faced South Africa in ODIs 28 times, with India winning 15 matches and South Africa winning 12, with 1 match ending in a no result.

IND-W vs SA-W head-to-head, ODI series: India vs South Africa women overall stats, most runs, wickets

India and South Africa have a very close head-to-head record in Women’s ODIs and this rivalry will renew with the Proteas touring India for a multi-format series.

Laura Wolvaardt (c), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Mieke de Ridder, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Suné Luus, Eliz-Mari Marz, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukune, Nondumiso Shangase, Delmi Tucker.

Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Uma Chetri (WK), Dayalan Hemlatha, Radha Yadav, Asha Sobhana, Shreyanka Patil, Saika Ishaque, Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, Priya Punia.

The first ODI between India Women and South Africa Women will be broadcast on the Sports18 network in India. The live streaming for this match will be available through the JioCinema app and website.