Twitter Reactions: Smriti Mandhana’s century propels India to massive win against South Africa

India women defeated South Africa women by 143 runs.

By Koustav Sengupta

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3 Min Read

India-Women vs South Africa-Women
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India-Women vs South Africa-Women. (Source - BCCI)

Smriti Mandhana’s century played a vital role in helping India secure a massive 143-run victory over South Africa in the first ODI of the series at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The Southpaw looked clinical and classy right from the start and built her innings patiently to help India post 265 runs in the first innings. 

India were looking shaky at one point as they reduced to 99/5. Smriti held one end but the wickets kept falling from the other, which put the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side under pressure. However, Deepti Sharma supported Mandhana as the duo stitched a partnership of 81 runs. Smriti made 117 runs as she registered her first ODI century on home soil while Deepti hit 37 runs.

Towards the end, Pooja Vastrakar played an important knock of 31 runs as India finished well with the bat, which gave them a lot of momentum. Among bowlers, Ayabonga Khaka picked up three wickets while Masabata Klaas picked up two. They missed the service of Shabnim Ismail, who retired earlier but her experience could have been handy. 

When it came to the chase, the Indian bowlers were all over South Africa. The visitors were reduced to 33/3 and they were feeling the heat for the first time in the match. Later, debutant Asha Sobhana came to the attack and put immense pressure on South Africa’s middle order. She eventually picked up four wickets as India picked up a mammoth win. Fellow spinner Deepti Sharma picked up two as there were multiple positives for the Women in Blue. 

Mandhana was adjudged Player of the Match for her fantastic century and after the match, she spoke about the importance of partnerships and thanked Deepti and Pooja for their valuable knocks.

“It was really a task not to go aerial and go for the grounded shots, we have played a lot of T20 cricket, today the need was for partnerships, credit to Deepti and Pooja for getting those. It was playing the situation,” Mandhana said in the post-match presentation. 

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India Women vs South Africa Women 2024India WomenSouth Africa WomenSmriti MandhanaPooja VastrakarDeepti SharmaSobhana Asha