Anneke Bosch pitched in with both bat and ball as South Africa won the T20I opener against India at the Ekana Stadium, Lucknow, on Saturday. Sent in to bat first in the first game of the tour under floodlights, the Indians got off to a solid start. Unfortunately, their death-over woes came to haunt them again, as they could only score 26 in the last 5 overs. India eventually managed 130/6 despite Harleen Deol’s maiden fifty. South Africa chased down the target with eight wickets in hand and five balls to spare.
Stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana got India off to a fine start as she smashed two fours off Nonkululeko Mlaba in the first over. However, she lost her wicket as she tried to hit Shabnim Ismail over mid-off, with Bosch diving to make a difficult catch look comfortable.
Deol, who walked in at three, took her time to get her eye in. She was on three off 11 balls at one stage. A boundary through square-leg, followed by two more fours off Nadine de Klerk, helped her break the shackles. At the other end, the teenage Shafali Verma, playing her first game since last year’s T20 World Cup, started with a six over long-off. India finished the Powerplay overs at 41/1, and looked well set for a score in excess of 150.
Verma was stumped off Mlaba for 23 off 22, but the duo of Jemimah Rodrigues and Deol steadied the innings with a 60-run stand in 48 balls. Rodrigues played a couple of brilliant strokes, including a falling pull through fine-leg off Sune Luus. At the other end, Deol used her feet against Mlaba well and smashed Luus through mid-on. She eventually got her fifty off 44 deliveries with a single off Ayabonga Khaka. Their third-wicket partnership set a solid platform, but their dismissals within the span of three deliveries pegged India back. The next 17 deliveries fetched only 14 runs.
India did not hit a single boundary after Deol was dismissed as Bosch and Ismail stuck to tight lines and lengths. Ismail ended the day as South Africa’s most successful bowler with 3-14, while Bosch picked up 2-11.
Lizelle Lee, Player of the Series in the ODI series, was then given a lifeline in the first over when a miscommunication between Deepti Sharma and Mandhana resulted in a drop catch. However, Lee could not cause much damage: she hit Arundhati Reddy straight to debutant Simran Bahadur at mid-on.
Luus and Bosch got their eyes in and took South Africa to 36 after six overs. They attacked the spinners, staying back at the crease to sweep the ones tossed up, forcing the spinners to err in length. Luus eventually hit one back to Deol, but with 22 needed in 18 balls, Bosch kept her calm and finished off the chase in style with a four. She ended with an unbeaten 66 off 48 deliveries and helped her team take a 1-0 lead.
The second game will be played on Sunday.
Brief scores:
India Women 130/6 in 20 overs (Harleen Deol 52, Jemimah Rodrigues 30; Shabnim Ismail 3-14, Anneke Bosch 2-11) lost to South Africa 133/2 in 19.1 overs (Anneke Bosch 66*, Sune Luus 43; Arundhati Reddy 1-20) by 8 wickets with 5 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Anneke Bosch.