Indian women’s cricket team suffered a 12-run defeat against South Africa in the first Twenty20 International (T20I) here on Sunday. Chasing a victory target of 190 runs, India’s innings ended at 177 runs. Jemimah Rodrigues top-scored for India with an unbeaten half-century (53*). Score: South Africa – 189/4 in 20 overs. India – 177/4 in 20 overs. The second match of the three-match series will be played on Sunday.
Batting first, South Africa openers Tasmin Brits (81 off 56 balls) and Marieson Kapp (57 off 33 balls) scored half-centuries. Captain Laura Wolvaardt scored 33 runs. The other batsmen were Cole Trione (12) and Nadine Dicklak (1*). For India, only Pooja Vastrakar was the only one who bowled well. Pooja conceded just 23 runs in four overs and picked up two wickets. Radha Yadav also took two wickets but gave away 40 runs. Malayali player Asha Shobhana could not get a wicket.
In reply, India got off to a good start, but the run rate dropped in the middle overs. Shafali Verma (18 off 18 balls) and Smriti Mandhana (46 off 30 balls) added 56 runs for the first wicket in 5.2 overs. Hemalatha, who came in at number three, was dismissed for a duck. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (35 off 29 balls) and Jemimah put up a fight in the final overs, but the Indian innings ended 13 runs short of the target. Jemimah remained unbeaten on 53 off 30 balls.