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Jemimah Rodrigues' fighting fifty went in vain as Tazmin Brits' 81 and Marizanne Kapp's half-century followed by bowlers' fine performance powered South Africa to a 12-run victory against India in the first T20I of the three-match series at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday.
South Africa defended 21 in the final over to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series. Chasing a target of 190, India got off to a flying start as the openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma stamped their authority, slamming South Africa bowlers all around the ground. The duo took their team past the 50-run mark in powerplay. However, South Africa broke a strong partnership of 56 runs between the openers as Ayabonga Khaka cleared Shafali for 18 runs. Dayalan Hemalatha joined hands with Mandhana to keep the change going, as the batter opened her tally with a stunning four. Mandhana fell short of her half-century by four runs as Chloe Tryon delivered a stunning outswing which the India opener mistimed and fell after scoring 46 runs. Nadine de Klerk then joined the wicket-taking party as she removed set Hemalatha for 17. In the 15th over, Jemimah Rodrigues then smoked Eliz-mari Marx for 15 runs, hammering three boundaries. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur gathered 12 runs off Tryon, keeping India in the chase. The partnership of 90 runs between Harmanpreet and Rodrigues could not take India to victory as the hosts fell by 12 runs against South Africa. Earlier, the Brits' blitz of 81 runs and Kapp's vigilant knock of 57 runs powered South Africa to a competitive total of 189/4. For India, Radha Yadav bagged two wickets conceding 40 runs while Pooja Vastrakar returned with a figure of 2-23. Brief score: South Africa 189/4 (Tazmin Brits 81, Marizanne Kapp 57; Pooja Vastrakar 2-23) vs India 177/4 (Smriti Mandhana 46, Jemimah Rodrigues 53*; Nonkululeko Mlaba 1-32). (ANI)
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