Smriti Mandhana produced her sixth ODI century, as India defeated South Africa by 143 runs.
In the opening game of their ODI series in Bengaluru on Sunday, India defeated South Africa by a margin of 143 runs thanks to a valiant century from opener Smriti Mandhana and a four-wicket haul from rookie Asha Shobana.
The sixth ODI century from Mandhana, who won the toss and chose to bat first, helped India to a respectable total after they had been battling at 99/5 in 21.5 overs.
Even though the pitch conditions were difficult and caused the top-order players Shafali Verma (7), skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (10), and Jemimah Rodrigues (17) to struggle, Mandhana remained composed and adjusted her game accordingly.
Mandhana first added 81 runs for the sixth wicket with Deepti Sharma (37 off 48 balls), stabilizing India’s batting.
Later, with Pooja Vastrakar finishing with an undefeated 31, the southpaw scored 58 runs for the seventh wicket.
The South African batsmen were bowled out for just 122 in 37.4 overs despite being asked to chase 266 for a victory. They never got going.
Renuka Thakur, a pacer, took the ball first for India and removed the dangerous Laura Wolvaardt for just four runs in the first over. In the sixth over, Vastrakar removed Anneke Bosch at the opposite end.
Before the Indian spinners gained control and stopped the run flow, South Africa struggled to 33/2 in ten overs. They continued to strike at regular intervals.
India grabbed a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series with to the final scores of 2-10 in six overs from Deepti Sharma and 4-21 in 8.4 overs from Shobana.
