BENGALURU: Riding high on Smriti Mandhana’s ton and debutant spinner Asha Sobhana weaved magic with the ball to seal a comprehensive 143-run win for the hosts in the first ODI against South Africa at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.
India sailed to a convincing win after putting on a competitive total of 265/8 on the board in the first innings.
It was going to be a challenging task for South Africa to chase down the total due to the surface being slightly sluggish. The spinners ensured that it turned out to be with pacers chipping in with a couple of wickets as well.
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Renuka Singh set the tone of the game in the first over by breaching skipper Laura Wolvaardt’s (4) defence. Tazmin Brits and Anneke Bosch lost their wickets to Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar respectively. As a result, South Africa were reduced to 33-3 in 10.1 overs.
Sune Luus (33) and Marizanne Kapp (24) forged a 39-run stand to bring the visitors momentarily back in the game. But Sobhana left her mark by breaking the stand after claiming Kapp’s wicket.
Sobhana continued to mesmerize the fans with her spin while other bowlers chipped in with valuable contributions. She ended the game with a four-wicket haul in her 8.4 over spell and gave away just 21 runs at a mere economy of 2.40.
Earlier in the innings, apart from Mandhana’s knock of 117 runs, Deepti hammered 37 off 48 while Pooja Vastrakar returned with an unbeaten score of 31 (42).
Opting to bat first, India struggled to start well as their opener Shafali Verma (7) and Dayalan Hemalatha for 12. However, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana kept things in India’s favour as she dealt with boundaries.
India lost its captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, for ten as she failed to read a ball and handed her wicket to debutant Annerie Dercksens in the 12th over. Mandhana then brought up her outstanding fifty in 61 balls.
Jemimah Rodrigues then stitched up a solid partnership with well-set Mandhana however she fell prey to Nondumiso Shangase in the 21st over of the game. In the next over, Ayabonga Khaka then removed Richa Ghosh for 3. South Africa kept chipping away at the wickets and reduced India to 99/5.
Mandhana and Deepti Sharma then stitched up a stand of 50-run, keeping the momentum going for India. Khaka then got her second wicket of the match as she provided her team with a crucial breakthrough, removing Deepti for 37.
In the 43rd over of the game, Mandhana slammed her 6th ODI century and her first ODI hundred at home.
An outstanding knock of 117 runs by Mandhana came to an end as she tried to pull her to the backward square leg fence. She handed an easy catch to Sune Luus. Khaka got her third wicket of the game as she removed Radha Yadav for 6.
In the last over, India managed to gather 12 runs to take India’s score to 265/8.
Brief score: India 265/8 (Smriti Mandhana 117, Deepti Sharma 37; Ayabonga Khaka 3-47) vs South Africa 122 (Sune Luus 33; Asha Sobhana 4-21, Deepti Sharma 2-10). (ANI)
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