Women's T20 World Cup: India warm up well with 28-run win vs South Africa

The Indian team has warmed up well before the official start of their Women's T20 World Cup channel. They registered a 28-run victory over South Africa at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai on October 1, Tuesday. India won both their warm-up fixtures to set the tone before their tournament begins. After a 20-run win against West Indies, the Indian team had a comprehensive win over the South Africa women's team. South Africa won the toss and opted to bowl first and managed to put India in early trouble. Shafali Verma departed for a two-ball duck and despite India opting for a cautious approach afterwards, captain Harmanpreet was also dismissed for 10.

Jemimah Rodrigues stepped up again with the bat as she joined Smriti Mandhaha at the crease. The half-centurion from the last warm up game, Jemimah, contributed with a well-made 30 as she shared a 40-run stand with Mandhana. India were soon reduced to 67/4 and Richa Ghosh led the recovery with a counter-attacking knock. She was supported by Deepti Sharma on the other end as they shared a 70-run stand from just 50 balls. Richa took on the South Africa bowlers as she hit two sixes and two boundaries to score 25-ball 36.



Deepti remained unbeaten at 35 as South Africa's Ayabonga Khaka took three wickets in the final over to prevent India from going past 150.

South Africa survived the early overs by Pooja Vastrakar, who is known for her wicket-taking ability in the powerplay alongside Renuka Singh and Arundhati Reddy. Asha Sobhana provided the very first breakthrough as she struck right after the powerplay. After a slow yet cautious approach, South Africa started losing wickets in quick succession as they were reduced from 37/0 to 66/4.

The Proteas women could not recover from the damage inflicted by the Indian bowlers as they were reeling at 98/6 in the 17th over. Despite Chloe Tryon's 20-ball 24 and Annerie Dercksen's 16-ball 21, South Africa could only manage 116 runs in the 20 overs.

India tried 9 bowling options in the contest with part-time bowlers like Harmanpreet Kaur and Shafali Verma bowling an over each and picking wickets. Asha Sobhana provided timely wickets as she picked up two wickets and gave 21 runs in the three overs she bowled.

India will face New Zealand in the Group A match on October 4 in Dubai.