Renuka Singh Thakur: Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana slammed a fantastic 117 off 127 balls, also her sixth century in ODIs, while leg-spinner Asha Sobhana shined with a four-wicket haul on debut to setup India’s 143-run thrashing of South Africa at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium and begin the multi-format series on a high note.
On a slightly sluggish pitch which offered variable bounce, seam movement and spin, India were reduced to 99/5 at one stage after electing to bat first. But Smriti stood tall, played her shots all over the park and even kept cramps at bay to keep India’s innings together with utmost discipline, control and remarkable composure.
In the process of bailing India out of trouble, Smriti brought up her first ODI century at home, laced with 12 fours and a six, to enthrall an enthusiastic Sunday crowd. She was also well-supported by knocks from Deepti Sharma (37) and Pooja Vastrakar (31) as India crossed 250-mark.
In reply, Asha’s fine spell of 4-21, where she spun the ball well and got good zip on her deliveries, ensured South Africa were never in the hunt to chase down 269. The Proteas lost wickets at regular intervals and didn’t stitch a long partnership to be bowled out for 122 in 37.4 overs.
Renuka Singh Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav were also amongst the wickets and supported Asha very well as India are now 1-0 up in the three-match series. South Africa suffered a big setback in the opening over of the chase as skipper Laura Wolvaardt was castled through the gate by a big nip-backer from Renuka.
Anneke Bosch was next to depart as she was trapped lbw by a seaming in delivery from Pooja Vastrakar which kept low. A returning Tazmin Brits didn’t last long as she came down the pitch for a big shot, but was caught by point off Deepti, who was playing her 200th international match for India. Asha came in to have Marizanne Kapp as her first ODI scalp, as the experienced campaigner cuts the ball straight to cover.
Scoreboard pressure then resulted in the run-out of Annerie Dercksen and Sune Luus, despite putting up a resistance with 33, missed a sweep off Deepti to be trapped lbw. From there, the result was a foregone conclusion as Radha had Nondumiso Shangase lbw, before Asha took out remaining three wickets to make her ODI debut memorable by sealing a dominant win for India.
Earlier, Smriti started off the proceedings with back-to-back beautiful drives off Masabata Klass, but saw Shafali Verma being lured into an expansive drive off Ayabonga Khaka and nicked behind to a diving Sinalo. Dayalan Hemalatha’s promotion to number three didn’t last long as she miscued to mid-off against Nonkululeko Mlaba.
Though Smriti nailed her pulls off debutante Annerie, India continued to lose wickets as captain Harmanpreet Kaur chipped to extra cover and give the seamer her maiden international wicket. It was followed by a returning Jemimah Rodrigues slog-sweeping to mid-wicket off Nondumiso and Richa Ghosh nicking behind off Ayabonga.
Smriti got a good applause from the crowd when she reached her fifty in 61 balls and brought up the fifty of her partnership with Deepti through a well-timed pull going for four. Deepti began nailing her sweeps off Nondumiso from the other end, followed by Smriti lofting and sweeping her for boundaries to keep India in the hunt for posting a competitive total.
But against the run of play, Deepti chopped on to her stumps off Ayabonga. Smriti, though, was undeterred, swiping and lofting to get a four and six off Masabata, before reaching the three-figure mark in 116 balls with a gentle flick going for a single.
She hit two more boundaries off Ayabonga, before holing out to deep square leg off a slower ball from Masabata, and fall for 117, with the crowd giving her a standing ovation on scoring her seventh ton in women’s international cricket.
Apart from being the second India women’s batter to cross the landmark of 7000 international runs, Smriti also overtook Mithali Raj’s 109 against West Indies in 2011 to claim the new record for the highest ODI score by an Indian batter in women’s ODIs.
Pooja smashed three boundaries in her unbeaten knock and along with Asha hitting a four, she ensured India posted a fairly good total, which was sufficient to register a comprehensive victory.
Brief Scores: India 265/8 in 50 overs (Smriti Mandhana 117, Deepti Sharma 37; Ayabonga Khaka 3-47, Masabata Klass 2-51) beat South Africa 122 in 37.4 overs (Sune Luus 33, Sinalo Jafta 27; Asha Sobhana 4-21, Deepti Sharma 2-10) by 143 runs.
