Laura Wolvaardt top-scored with 51, and Annerie Dercksen added an unbeaten 44 as South Africa claimed a comfortable six-wicket win against India in the first T20 International at Kingsmead on Friday night.
The South African captain, restored to the opening position after spending most of the season batting at No 3 in the T20 format, hit eight fours after her bowlers had restricted India to 157/7.
The home team reached the required target with five balls to spare.
Dercksen, who battled with a foot injury, rode her luck, with some bad running between the wickets, mixed with powerful shotmaking, to continue her recent run of good form, hitting four boundaries and one towering six.
After Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits — who shifted to No 3 — added 48 for the second wicket. Dercksen put on 52 with her captain; that set the Proteas on course for a much-needed victory after they struggled in New Zealand.
While the batters put the icing on the cake, this was a win for the bowlers, with Ayabonga Khaka the star, picking up three wickets.
It was a generally good bowling performance, with Khaka’s discipline and accuracy, providing the sort of control South Africa so desperately needs in the absence of a bowler with high pace.
Head coach Mandla Mashimbyi has said South Africa need to adjust their thinking with the ball, and they have to be a “pressure building” attack if they are going to be successful.
An example of that description created the dismissals of the India openers after Wolvaardt chose to field upon winning the toss.
The wickets of Sherfali Verma and Smriti Mandhana came after two dot balls to both, with the resultant aggressive strokes creating catches for Brits and Wolvaardt.
Verma shouldn’t have reached 34 after she gifted an opportunity to Luus, who dropped an easy catch at mid-on with the Indian opener on 13.
That was one of a few mistakes in the field, and given how important the ground fielding is as part of building pressure, South Africa will need to improve in that department in the remaining four matches.
A 71-run partnership for the third wicket between Jemima Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur appeared to give the visitors the advantage, with a total in the region of 180 looking on the cards.
Rodriguez was typically busy, running hard between the wickets, while her captain was more easily able to access the boundary, hitting five fours and a six, in top scoring with 47 not out.
However, the dismissals of Rodriguez and big-hitting Richa Ghosh in the space of six balls changed the momentum of the innings.
Tumi Sekhukhune was responsible for Rodriguez’s wicket, with Luus making up for her earlier error by holding a catch, while Anneke Bosch showed excellent judgement taking the catch to dismiss Ghosh, just centimetres from the boundary.
The South Africans did superbly to deny Harmanpreet the strike while building pressure at the other end, and with wickets tumbling, India were only able to score 38 runs off the last six overs.
Khaka was outstanding, finishing with 3/16, while Sekhukhune picked up two and Nonkululeko Mlbala, who mixed up her pace well, one wicket.
TimesLIVE
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