It was Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana who opened the batting for India after Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and put her team to bat first.
Masabata Klaas dismissed Shafali Verma with a ball that got the bat’s thick edge and found the gloves of a diving Sinalo Jafta.
Spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba then scalped the wicket of Dayalan Hemalatha after the batter’s shot failed to clear the fielder.
Debutant Annerie Dercksen dismissed Harmanpreet Kaur for her maiden ODI wicket
Jemimah Rodrigues fell after scoring a measly 17, holding out to Marizanne Kapp of Nondumiso Shangase’s bowling
Ayabonga Khaka then dismissed Richa Ghosh, whose bat caught an edge and carried to Jafta who completed the catch
Deepti Sharma was the next to depart after a length ball from Khaka deflected off her bat onto the stumps
Smriti Mandhana anchored the Indian innings. The India vice captain completed her sixth ODI century, second against South Africa
She also became only the second Indian woman to score 7000+ international runs, after former India captain Mithali Raj
Struggling with cramps in the second half of her innings, Smriti eventually holed out to Sune Luus off Masabata Klaas’ bowling in the 38th over
Radha Yadav was the last Indian batter to depart after she found Mlaba at short fine leg region while attempting to clear the boundary
Chasing 266 to win, Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits led South Africa’s response
Wolvaardt fell in the very first over after Renuka Thakur left her stumps in disarray with a ball swinging into the left-hander
Pooja Vastrakar then removed Anneke Bosch trapping her leg before
Deepti Sharma, playing her 200th international fixture, was a happy customer after dismissing Britz soon after
Pooja, who came into the game after recovering from an injury, seemed to have injured her knee while stepping awkwardly on her left side on the field. She was helped off the field by physios shortly after.
It was a dream debut for Asha Shobana as she picked up four wickets, which included Marizanne Kapp, to quickly end South Africa’s attempt to chase down the target
Debutant Annerie Dercksen would have been one of Asha’s scalps, but a catch was dropped off her bowling. However, she was run out by wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh in the same over
Sune Luus was the most threatening of batters for SA, anchoring the chase when wickets fell like ninepins. However, Deepti trapped her leg before
Radha Yadav joined the party and picked up Nondumiso Shangase’s wicket
India wrapped up the SA in 37.4 overs, beating the Proteas by 143 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series