Women's Cricket
Debutant Amanjot Kaur stars as India beats South Africa in Tri-Nation Series opener
Batter Amanjot Kaur stayed till the end and scored 41 runs in 30 balls on her debut.
Amanjot Kaur receiving her debut cap from Smriti Mandhana. (Source: Female Cricket/Twitter)
Indian women's cricket team won their Tri-Nation Series opener against South Africa by 27 runs on Friday at Buffalo Park, South Africa. Visitors India had set a target of 148 for the Proteas, after the latter won the toss and chose to bowl first. However, the hosts were limited to a total of 120 in 20 overs.
It was 23-year-old debutant Amanjot Kaur who starred for the team in her first outing with the national team. Kaur remained not out till the end of their innings, contributing an important knock of 41 runs off 30 balls.
Deepti Sharma and Yastika Bhatia were the other big-hitters who scored 33 and 35 runs respectively. Skipper Smriti Mandhana, however, couldn't strike her form as she was caught out at just seven runs off as many balls.
South Africa's batting lineup experienced an early blow with Laura Wolvaardt getting caught and bowled by Sharma in the second over. After that, Deepti picked up two more wickets. Devika Vaidya took two wickets, with Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Sneh Rana, and Radha Yadav picking up a wicket each.
The Proteas' skipper Sune Luus scored the highest in their innings with 29 runs off 30 balls.
Despite Sharma's contributions with both the bat and the ball, it was debutant Kaur who was adjudged as 'Player of the Match' for her inspiring knock to announce herself at the international circuit. Amanjot's knock now stands as the second-highest score made by an Indian woman player on her T20I debut. The record for the highest remains with Rumeli Dhar with her score of 66.
This Tri-Nation tournament features West Indies apart from India and South Africa, who will meet India on 23rd January, Monday, at 10:30 pm IST.
