Match Centre
Scorecard Summary
INDIA WOMEN 177/9 (50 OVERS)
- Mithali Raj50 (85)
- Harmanpreet Kaur40 (41)
- Shabnim Ismail3/28 (10)
- Nonkululeko Mlaba2/41 (10)
SOUTH AFRICA WOMEN 178/2 (40.1 OVERS)
- Lizelle Lee*83 (122)
- Laura Wolvaardt80 (110)
- Jhulan Goswami2/38 (10)
- Poonam Yadav0/34 (10)
Scorer: Vairavan | Commentator: Shashank Kishore
Right. That's that from us today. Hope you enjoyed the game. Don't forget to join us for the second ODI on March 9. Be well, stay safe and do not venture out without your masks. Cheers everyone!
It's time for the presentation
Shabnim Ismail is the Player of the Match for her 3 for 28. "My performances after the Pakistan series was really good," she says. "The idea was to hit consistent lines and lengths, in my first over where I went for 10 runs, I was a touch short."
Sune Luus: Was a perfect game until I lost my wicket (laughs). Our bowling and fielding was exceptional, the way Lizelle and Laura batted - world class! Always need to work on areas to improve, but for now, we're going to celebrate the win and what we've done right.
Mithali Raj: It seems like the batters were in good form. Few of them got starts but couldn't convert. The bowlers need to be more consistent with lines and lengths, maybe they weren't consistent because they're coming back after a long break. A lot goes into game time. If you play games, it shows in your confidence.
3.33pm And South Africa have taken a 1-0 lead with a proper demolition job. They showed how and why match-time is very important. Unlike India, they came in to the game on the back of two full series. And all that game time translated into proper plans and their execution.
Sune Luus won a good toss, opted to bowl and then saw her premier fast bowler Shabnim Ismail lay down the marker. Then, rookie Mlaba showed her wares with some crafty left-arm spin. Even when Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet briefly threatened a rearguard, South Africa stuck to their task and kept chipping away.
Then with a small target to chase down, Laura Woolvardt threaded gaps with surgical precision - like she would've had to do at medical school had her plans of being a doctor materialised. Lizelle Lee showed why she's among the feared batters in the women's game today, bruising her way to a superb half-century to turn this quickly into a no-contest.
Four more ODIs to go, so India shouldn't be too worried. After all this was only their first ODI in 15 months. That said, there's plenty of work to do in terms of finding the right balance.
END OF OVER:40 | 5 Runs 1 Wkt | SA-W: 177/2 (1 run required from 60 balls, RR: 4.42, RRR: 0.10)
- Lizelle Lee83 (121b)
- Jhulan Goswami10-1-38-2
- Harmanpreet Kaur4-0-14-0
S Luus c Sharma b Goswami 1 (9b 0x4 0x6) SR: 11.11
Match Coverage
All Match NewsHarmanpreet Kaur admits India Women lost their 'rhythm' in year-long break
"To create that rhythm again we would definitely need some time," ODI vice-captain says
Shabnim Ismail three-for and Lizelle Lee, Laura Wolvaardt fifties lead dominant South Africa win
India lost their last five wickets for 21 runs, as captain Mithali Raj's 50 went in vain
India women just lost a year, but not all the blame goes to Covid
Last year at this time, they were looking ahead to their first T20 World Cup final. After that, everything went downhill
'It doesn't look like we are rusty' - Mithali Raj ready as India end year-long break from international cricket
Captain is very confident in the way her players have trained ahead of series against South Africa
Diana Edulji: Women's IPL 'ambitious', but T20 Challenge should 'definitely have a fourth team'
"It's better to move one step at a time than to have a big thing and it flops and it closes"