Cape Town - Shabnim Ismail took a career-best 5/30 to help the Proteas beat India by five wickets in the third Cricket South Africa (CSA) Women’s T20 at the Wanderers on Sunday.
The visitors now lead the series 2-1.
India were restricted to 133 in 17.5 overs thanks to Ismail’s remarkable spell which was well supported by Masabata Klaas, who got 2/20.
A special mention must go to Marizanne Kapp who got the team off to a sensational start, taking the wicket of Mithali Raj (0) in the first over of the match. She ended with outstanding figures of 1/6 in three overs including her opening wicket maiden after the home side won the toss and elected to field.
India’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur (48) and Smriti Mandhana (37) recovered the innings well, but wickets tumbled at regular intervals, the bowlers not allowing the batting side to settle in for too long.
South Africa’s reply saw the early loss of Lizelle Lee for the third match straight, this time for five runs off Pooja Vastrakar (2/21). Captain, Dané van Niekerk chipped in with 26 runs off 20 balls (5x4s) before Suné Luus (41 off 34) and Mignon du Preez (20) began the rebuild.
Poonam Yadav struck at the end of the 14th over with the Proteas needing 50 from the last 36 balls. Enter the dangerous Chloe Tryon who smashed 34 runs from just 15 deliveries, getting her side to the brink of victory.
They needed just three runs when she lost her wicket and overcame the visitors comfortably in the end.
The series moves to SuperSport Park this Wednesday, February 21 where it continues to hang in the balance.
Every match is a must-win for South Africa until the fifth and final clash at Newlands on Saturday, February 24.
Proteas T20 squad:
Dané van Niekerk (captain, Eastern Province), Marizanne Kapp (Eastern Province), Trisha Chetty (Gauteng), Shabnim Ismail (Gauteng), Ayabonga Khaka (Gauteng), Masabata Klaas (North West), Suné Luus (Northerns), Odine Kirsten (Northerns), Mignon du Preez (Northerns), Lizelle Lee (North West), Chloe Tryon (KwaZulu-Natal Coastal), Nadine de Klerk (Northerns), Raisibe Ntozakhe (Gauteng), Moseline Daniels (Boland).