Indian women’s team crush South Africa by 8 wickets to win the First ODI

The Indian women’s team produced a dominating display as they defeated South Africa by 8 wickets in the first One day international played at Reliance Stadium, Vadodara on Wednesday.

South African captain Sunne Luus won the toss and decided to bat first. It was a perfect start for the hosts as Jhulan Goswami dismissed Lizelle off the very first ball of the innings. Trisha Chetty and Laura Wolvaardt played some lovely shots putting pressure on Indian bowlers. 

Ekta Bisht provided the breakthrough for India as she produced a lovely delivery to dismiss Trisha Chetty. Trisha Chetty and Wolvaardt added 32 runs for the second wicket. At the end of 10 overs, South Africa were 42 for the loss of two wickets. 

It was a brilliant bowling effort by the Indian bowlers, who bowled tight line and lengths and didn't allow South African batters to score runs easily. Every South African batter got starts but they could not convert into big scores. 

Deepti Sharma produced a magical ball to dismiss Wolvaardt for 39. M Kapp played a good knock for South Africa but the other batters failed to score runs. Kapp reached her fifty off 62 balls and was the final batter to be dismissed for 54. South Africa were bowled out for a paltry total of 164 in 45.1 overs. 

Chasing the target of 166 runs to win, Jemimah Rodrigues and Priya Punia got off to a decent start taking singles and hitting occasional boundaries. At the end of 10 overs, Indian women were 35 for 0.

Rodrigues looked confident with her stroke play and showed her class. The young Rodrigues reached her fifty off 62 balls with a single. After hitting a boundary, Rodrigues was dismissed by Shangase for 55. The Indian openers laid the foundation adding 83 runs. The debutant Priya Punia looked composed with a good head above her shoulders. She reached her fifty off 89 balls. 

Punam Raut and Priya Punia added 45 runs for the second wicket. Raut was dismissed by Nandie de Klerk for 16. Mithali Raj came to the crease andalong with Punia, lead India to a crushing eight wicket win with 50 balls to spare. 

Indian women 165 for 2 in 41.4 overs (Priya Punia 75*, Jemimah Rodrigues 55, Shangase 1/39) beat South African women 164 in 45.1 overs ( M Kapp 54, Jhulan Goswami 3/33, Ekta Bisht 2/28) by 8 wickets.

Indian women took a 1-0 lead in the three match ODI series. The second ODI will be played on 11th October at the same ground.

Cover Image credits: The SportsRush