The Indian women registered a memorable win in the 1st One day international of ICC Women’s Championship played at Kimberley just finished a few moments ago. It was a great performance by the runners-up of Women’s World Cup 2017 who was playing an international match after 7 months.
Indian captain Raj won the toss and batted first. Mandhana was the top scorer with 84 and posted 213 runs. Chasing 214, Indian pacers Jhulan Goswami and Shikha Pandey took 7 wickets between them. The Indian women won the first match by 88 runs.
Indian captain Mithali Raj won the toss and elected to bat first. Smriti Mandhana and Punam Raut got the team off to a slow start scoring 27 runs in the first 10 overs. Both Indian openers added 55 runs for the first wicket. Punam Raut was dismissed for 19. Then Mandhana and captain Raj played with positive intent adding 99 runs for the second wicket.
The stylish left-handed batter reached her half-century off 64 balls. After losing Mandhana the Indian women lost wickets at regular intervals. At the end of 50 overs, Indian women posted 213 for 7. The top scorer for India was Smriti Mandhana with 84 runs.
Chasing the modest target of 214, South Africa women lost 3 early wickets with 23 runs on the board. Shikha Pandey took 2 wickets while Poonam Yadav took 1 wicket in the first 10 overs. At end of 10 overs, South Africa women were 24 for 3. The Indian bowlers put pressure on South African batters with good consistent bowling. It was a great display of bowling by Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, and all the Indian bowlers. South African women were bowled out for 125. South African captain Dan Van Niekerk was the top scorer with 41 runs.
Indian women 213 for 7 in 50 overs ( Smriti Mandhana 84, Mithali Raj 45, M Kapp 2/26, A Khaka 2/47) beat
South African women 125 in 43.2 overs ( Dan Van Niekerk 41, Jhulan Goswami 4/24, Shikha Pandey 3/23) by 88 runs.
India takes a 1-0 lead in the series. The second match will take on 7th February at the same venue.
