Smriti Mandhana’s splendid ton lifts India to 265/8

Bengaluru: An excellent hundred by vice-captain Smriti Mandhana helped India survive a top-order wobble and post a competitive 265/8 against South Africa in the first women’s One-Day International (ODI) here on Sunday.

Mandhana (117, 127b, 12×4, 1×6), who made her sixth ODI ton, and Deepti Sharma (37, 48b, 3×4) added 81 runs (92b) for the sixth wicket.

Pooja Vastrakar (31 not out) assisted Mandhana to make 58 runs (54b) for the seventh wicket as India got out of a shaky 99/5 after electing to bat.

Mandhana has a lot of flair in her batting but here she was forced to eschew that because of the team situation and the sluggish nature of the pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadoum on which India top-order batters like Shafali Verma (7), captain Harmanpreet Kaur (10) and Jemimah Rodrigues (17) failed to adapt, leading to their soft dismissals.

Mandhana was on 33 when India’s fifth batter fell, and she had to preserve her wicket to take India forward.

She did that job to perfection. Mandhana was happy to free her hands when width was offered.

The left-hander’s swivel pull off debutant pacer Anne Dercksen and a little shimmy down the track to deposit offie Nondumiso Shangase over mid-on carried streaks of her elegance.

But a good chunk of credit should also go to Deepti in making Mandhana’s job easier, playing a counter-punching innings.

It wasn’t overtly aggressive but Deepti picked her bowlers and spots well to accumulate runs. She took a liking for Shangase, whom she swept for all her three boundaries.

But the low bounce did Deepti in as she dragged pacer Ayabonga Khaka’s wide delivery on to her stumps.

However, Mandhana continued her solid ways and reached 99 with a beautifully timed six off pacer Masabata Klaas over mid-on. She took a single off the next ball off Klaas to reach hundred off 116 balls, soaking in cheers from the dressing room and an adoring crowd.

The local crowd was well behind the Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain, till she was ousted by Klaas.