Smriti Mandhana anchors India's big win against South Africa in first ODI

Bengaluru: Smriti Mandhana’s classy 117 and Deepti Sharma’s all-round show (37 runs, 2/10) helped India bag a comprehensive 143-run win over South Africa in the first ODI here on Sunday. 

Smriti’s sixth ODI century, her first in India, was studded with 12 fours and one six and this knock, along with contributions from Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar (31 n.o.), helped the hosts recover from a precarious 99/5 to finish with 265/8. 

India’s bowling unit did not give South Africa an inch, as the visitors slumped to 122 all out. Debutante Asha Sobhana (4/21) was the pick of the Indian bowlers. 

After winning the toss and opting to bat on a pitch that offered variable bounce throughout the contest, India were off to a shaky start. 

South Africa’s pacers Ayabonga Khaka (3/47) and Masabata Klaas (2/51) extracted sufficient swing to keep the batters in check. 

Shafali Verma’s lean patch continued as she feathered an edge off Klaas to 'keeper Sinalo Jafta, who took a brilliant diving catch. 

Smriti got off the mark with consecutive cover drives and held one end up while wickets tumbled to a mixture of poor shot selection and batters not reading the surface well enough. 

Dayalan Hemalatha’s attempted sweep took a top edge, Harmanpreet Kaur found her opposite number Laura Wolvaardt at extra cover and Jemimah Rodrigues nailed a slog-sweep straight to Marizanne Kapp, who took a well-judged catch at deep mid-wicket. 

Richa Ghosh was caught behind to leave the hosts in disarray. Then the lower middle order and Smriti worked their magic with the willow. 

Once she found an able ally in Deepti, the vice-captain found boundaries at will with piercing drives and her trademark swivel pull. She raced from 50 to 100 in 55 balls, while Deepti kept the runs flowing with a series of sweeps as the pair put on 81 runs for the seventh wicket.

Deepti dragged one onto her stumps off Khaka, but Pooja hung around till the end and played some fine shots. 

South Africa were jolted early in their pursuit as Renuka Singh Thakur and Pooja accounted for the in-form Laura Wolvaardt and Anneke Bosch with in-swingers that kept low. 

Deepti dismissed Sune Luus for a fighting 31, and Asha got prodigious turn under the lights as the Proteas crumpled under scoreboard pressure. 

Brief scores:

India: 265/8 in 50 overs (Smriti Mandhana 117, Deepti Sharma 37, Pooja Vastrakar 31 n.o.; Ayabonga Khaka 3-47, Masabata Klaas 2-51) bt South Africa: 122 all out in 37.4 overs (Sune Luus 33, Sinalo Jafta 27 n.o.; Deepti Sharma 2-10, Asha Sobhana 4-21). Result: India won by 143 runs. PoM: Smriti Mandhana.

India’s next match: June 19 (Bengaluru).