After winning the ODIs 4-1, South Africa Women won the first T20I of the three match series against India Women, at the Ekana Stadium, Lucknow. Batting first, India meandered to 130/6 against Shabnim Ismail (4-0-14-3) and Anneke Bosch (2-0-11-2). With Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma gone, no Harmanpreet Kaur, and a weak lower order to follow, Harleen Deol (52 in 47 balls) and Jemimah Rodrigues (30 in 27) left the onslaught for too late.
South Africa lost Lizelle Lee early, but Bosch (66* in 48) and Sune Luus (43 in 49) added 90 for the second wicket to seal the match. They won by 8 wickets with 5 balls to spare. Ahead of the second match, to be played on 21 March, here is a statistical preview.
1 wicket needed by Radha Yadav (49) to become the fifth Indian to 50 wickets. Poonam Yadav (95), Jhulan Goswami (56), Ekta Bisht (53), and Deepti Sharma (53) are the only others to have done this. Radha has a realistic chance of reaching second place by this series.
1.218 India’s win-loss ratio (67 wins, 55 defeats), the fourth among all sides with a 50-match cut-off. South Africa is sixth, with 0.852 (52 wins, 61 defeats).
2 wickets needed by Marizanne Kapp (62) to go past Dane van Niekerk (63) and become the second-highest wicket-taker among South Africans. Only Ismail (109) has more wickets.
3 wickets needed by Luus (47) to become the fourth South African to 50 wickets. Ismail (109), van Niekerk (63), and Kapp (62) are the only others to have done this.
2.333 India’s win-loss ratio against South Africa (7 wins, 3 defeats), their fourth-best against any side with a 10-match cut-off. South Africa’s 0.429 is their third-worst.
5 wickets needed by Poonam (95) to become the first Indian and fifth overall to 100 wickets. Anisa Mohammed (120), Ellyse Perry (114), Ismail (109), and Anya Shrubsole (102) are the only ones to have done this. Nida Dar has 99 wickets.
14 runs needed by Kapp (986) to become the fifth South African to reach the 1,000-run landmark. Only van Niekerk (1,839), Mignon du Preez (1,740), Lizelle Lee (1,700), and Trisha Chetty (1,109) have done this. Kapp will also become the second South African (after her wife van Niekerk) and 10th overall to do the 1,000 run-50 wicket double.
24 consecutive T20Is for Radha with at least one wicket in every match now. She had taken 11 wickets in her first 11 matches and another 38 in her next 24.
40 runs needed by Rodrigues (960) to become the fourth Indian to reach the 1,000-run landmark. Only Mithali Raj (2,364), Harmanpreet Kaur (2,186), and Mandhana (1,727) have done this.