PERFECT START FOR PROTEAS
FIRST ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL
India 177/9 (50 overs; Raj 50, Kaur 40; Ismail 3/28, Mlaba 2/41)
South Africa 178/2 (40.1 overs; Wolvaardt 80, Lee 83*; Guswami 2/38
South Africa win by 8 wickets
THE Proteas Women’s team’s tour of India got off to a “near-perfect” start yesterday with Sune Luus’s side completing a crushing eight-wicket win in the first ODI in Lucknow.
It was the hosts’ first competitive outing in just under a year, while the Proteas are fresh off clean-sweeping Pakistan at home.
Openers Laura Wolvaardt (80) and Lizelle Lee (83 not out) fired the tourists to the winning target in just 40.1 overs, having restricted India to 177/9 at the Erkana Cricket Stadium.
The victory put South Africa 1-0 up in the five-match series.
In the process, Wolvaardt became the youngest South African batter to pass 2 000 ODI runs, beating the record of Quinton de Kock (21 years and 315 days to 23 years and 48 days).
“It was a perfect game until I lost my wicket,” skipper Luus laughed.
“Our bowling and fielding was exceptional, the way Lizelle and Laura batted (was) world class.
“Always need to work on areas to improve, but for now, we’re going to celebrate the win and what we’ve done right.”
Luus’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss worked out splendidly as all her bowlers put in solid shifts to restrict the hosts in their allotted overs.
Pace bowler Shabnim Ismail once again led the attack with aplomb, claiming 3/28.
The speedster was well supported by left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba, who finished with figures of 2/41.
Overall, though, it was an excellent display from the entire bowling unit with Marizanne Kapp (1/25), Ayabonga Khaka (1/29) and Luus (1/23) all contributing.
They were well supported in the field with South Africa producing arguably one of their most athletic displays in a very long time.
Lee, in particular, snapped up a brilliant diving catch to her left in the gully, while Wolvaardt also completed a run-out with a direct hit, as well as three catches at backward point.
The energy displayed suffocated the Indian team, who were earlier well placed on 102/3 after 25.1 overs.
They could only add a further 75 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their remaining 24.5 overs as the Proteas put the squeeze on.
Only Indian captain Mithali Raj (50) and Harmanpreet Kaur (40) put the South African bowlers under any form of pressure.
“It seems like the batters were in good form. A few of them got started but couldn’t convert,” Raj said.
“The bowlers need to be more consistent with lines and lengths. Maybe they weren’t consistent because they’re coming back after a long break.
“A lot goes into game time. If you play games, it shows in your confidence,” Raj added.