Brits and Kapp fifties help South Africa to their first victory of India tour

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The hosts fell 12 runs short in Chennai and now trail the three-match T20I series 1-0

South Africa secured their first victory of the tour  •  BCCI

South Africa 189 for 4 (Brits 81, Kapp 57, Vastrakar 2-23) beat India 177 for 4 (Rodrigues 53*, Mandhana 46, de Klerk 1-30, Mlaba 1-32) by 12 runs

After defeats in the ODI series and the one-off Test, South Africa began their run to the T20 World Cup with a morale-boosting victory over India in the first T20I in Chennai.

Starring in the win were Tazmin Brits, whose 81 – an innings of contrasts – set South Africa up along with Marizanne Kapp. The pair added 96 in just 9.2 overs; Kapp’s own contribution was a robust 33-ball 57 as the visitors posted 189 for 4.

India’s chase began well with Smriti Mandhana’s 30-ball 46, but her wicket slowed things down considerably, until they found their ammunition through Jemimah Rodrigues’ punchy 29-ball half-century.

Eventually, the target proved steep as South Africa’s spinners used the slow pitch and the absence of dew to their advantage. In the end, India fell 12 runs short after flirting with the possibility of a heist when Rodrigues brought the equation down from 47 off 18 to 21 off six.

Wolvaardt flies, Brits stutters

Laura Wolvaardt came out all guns blazing and took Renuka Singh for 16 runs in the third over. But South Africa weren’t able to build on that with Brits, at this point, struggling to hit the ball off the square.

Brits took 10 deliveries to get off the mark and the piling up of dots made Wolvaardt take more risks than she would’ve liked. One such stroke – walking across to expose all three stumps in a bid to sweep left-arm spinner Radha Yadav into acres of open space – led to her downfall in the eighth over to leave South Africa 50 for 1.

Kapp finds her gears straightaway

Kapp began with two fours off her first three balls, the first one, an inside-out drive over extra cover, particularly attractive. But she was also massively lucky to be reprieved twice in the 10th over.

First, Richa Ghosh failed to hang on to a catch behind the stumps when Kapp was on 11 and then Mandhana put down a tough chance at the long-off fence with the South African allrounder on 11. This helped unleash Kapp, which reduced the pressure Brits after she had limped to a run-a-ball 25 at the 10-over mark.

Fighting a back injury, Kapp had shelved her sweeps for large periods during the Test match between these two teams a few days ago. But in perhaps a sign that she was feeling heaps better, Kapp displayed different variations of her sweeps as her innings progressed – the full-blooded ones, the paddles, the scoops and even the reverse – during a 30-ball half-century that injected momentum into South Africa’s innings.

Full report to follow

Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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