New Delhi: India women won the opening T20I encounter against South Africa in the tri-series. Debutant Amanjot Kaur powered India to 147/6 followed by Indian spinners who spun their web to stop the hosts for 120/9. After a middle-order collapse, a 76-run partnership between Deepti Sharma and Kaur helped India to a decent total.
A debut to remember!
Debutant Amanjot Kaur bagged the Player of the Match award for her crucial 41*(30) as #TeamIndia registered a 27-run victory in the first match of the Tri-Series ????
Scorecard ▶️https://t.co/ln4aIAm4a6 #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/MAdLe3isDZ
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) January 20, 2023
Smriti Mandhana captained the side in Harmanpreet Kaur’s absence while Yastika Bhatia came in as the opening batter and wicketkeeper in place of Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh, who are playing in the U-19 T20 World Cup. Smriti Mandhana lost her wicket to a slower delivery from Ayabonga Khaka which began the collapse. Harleen Deol got run out just after the end of the powerplay, followed by Jemimah Rodrigues on a duck.
With wickets falling on one end, Yastika stood her ground and scored an important 35(34). Woman in form Deepti Sharma scored 33 off 23 with Kaur scoring 41* off 30 to help India put up a fighting total after being 69/5.
Congratulations to Amanjot Kaur, who is all set to make her #TeamIndia debut. She gets her ? from @mandhana_smriti ??https://t.co/xH9piQsx7A #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/1N8GzRmAgC
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) January 19, 2023
While India missed a few big names, the management decided to not go with Renuka Singh and Shikha Pandey and chose Anjali Sarvani and all-rounder Amanjot for the pace attack. Indian spinners were able to take wickets in regular intervals on a dry pitch with hot and humid conditions. With four front-line spinners and two options in Devika and Harleen, women in blue were prepared for the conditions.
Deepti Sharma began South Africa’s fall by dismissing Laura Wolvaardt and ended her quota of four overs with two more wickets. Devika Vaidya picked two with Rajeshwari, Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav picking one each.
India seal a comfortable win against South Africa in the opening game of the T20I Tri-Series ? pic.twitter.com/mmuAheYSew
— ICC (@ICC) January 19, 2023
Marizzane Kapp and captain Sune Luus played run-a-ball innings of 22(22) and 29(30) respectively, followed by 26 off 20 by Chloe Tryon, but were not enough to save the game.
That meant a good start for India to a T20 World Cup year but with the middle order not being up to mark for quite some time now, the team has some questions to answer.