India W vs South Africa W 1st t20i

 South Africa w held their nerve in a close last over encounter vs India w to win their 1st match of India Tour

SA W leads the 3 match t20i series 1-0

A much needed win for South Africa W after being whitewashed in odi and one of the test match. They have played a really good cricket and fought really hard to beat India W in their backyard, but they were falling just short to beat them until last night. 

South Africa: 189-4 with the help of a match winning partnership between M Kaap and T Brits of 96 runs in just 56 balls. Indian w bowlers were taken into attack right and left through out the match except Pooja Vastrakar. When other bowlers' economy was 10 and above, she managed to keep her economy rate to 5.75 and also clinched 2 wickets (including T Brits). India w was way too loose while fielding, they dropped a couple of catches which helped SA W to score 20 more runs.

India: While chasing the mighty total on a comparatively slow pitch with no dew as a factor, India w fell short by just 12 runs. They scored 177-4 with the help of quick fire knock of Smriti Mandhana 30 ball 46 runs and also Jemimah's 30 ball 53, which went in vain. Captain also tried hard to get the team over the line but was struggling to connect the ball during initial phase of her batting.

Where did India W fall short?

The first one is obviously fielding. "We didn't play good cricket overall. Dropped too many chances which cost us 20 runs extras. While batting, we played too many dot balls in the middle overs. They bowled well, didn't give us easy runs." Harmanpreet Kaur said in post match presentation. The reason India w wasn't able to accelerate is because SA W bowled tight length and according to the field, hence Kaur specially found it difficult to find the gaps and was losing her shape as she tried to hit hard.

Whereas, Jemimah kept dancing on crease which made SA W bowlers to change their length and she found it easy to score. She targeted the off side where 4 fielders were inside the circle, she was just clearing the infield by slicing the ball over point. She did this a couple of time and this forced the bowler to bowl more towards her body, giving her the opportunity to hit a six by sweeping over fine leg at the most crucial moment of the match when 27 were required off 7 balls. Unfortunately, Jemimah's effort went in vain but these are some positives for India W to go forward in the remaining 2 matches in the 3 match series.

Any changes in the XI for 2nd t20i?

I don't feel there is any need for change in the XI except Richa Gosh, who might not have recovered from the concussion yet and maybe they will try to fit Shreyanka in as a wicket taking option and also creating batting depth.

Advait Kadam

(Sports Management student)