The Proteas women last played a competitive match in August 2022 – during their disappointing Commonwealth Games appearance in which they were eliminated in the group stage after finishing third behind England and New Zealand.

The team’s rustiness showed when they lost by 27 runs to India in the first match of a T20 tri-series also involving West Indies. The series between the three nations is meant to serve as T20 World Cup preparation.

Compared with their Indian counterparts, the Proteas’ last taste of a cricket match was at the Games, when they beat Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in their third and final group game.

Sinalo Jafta of South Africa bats against India during their tri-series clash at Buffalo Park in East London on 19 January 2023. (Photo: Michael Sheehan / Gallo Images)

India, though, had recently tested their strength in a series against the reigning T20, One Day International and Commonwealth champions Australia. Though they lost that December series, they gained valuable minutes on the field.

This was evident as they edged the South Africans at Buffalo Park in East London.     

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All-rounder Deepti Sharma was the chief destroyer of the South Africans with her 23-ball 33 runs with bat in hand, and three for 30 with the ball in front of a small crowd in the Eastern Cape.

Sharma claimed the crucial wicket of one of the Proteas’ most dangerous willow-wielders, Laura Wolvaardt, as early as the second over – removing her for just six runs.

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She would return to finish the job at the end and help the visitors defend their total of 147 for six in the 20 overs. Sharma removed Masabata Klaas in the final over to ensure that her side clinched a comfortable 27-run win, despite the fact that their own total was not as high as they might have wanted.  

Earlier, the destructive all-rounder had partnered with Amanjot Kaur (41 not out) to steady the Indian innings after the Proteas had cut the tourists down to 69 for five.

The Proteas’ Laura Wolvaardt adds to the scoreboard against India at Buffalo Park on 19 January 2023. (Photo: Michael Sheehan / Gallo Images)

The duo’s half-century stand for the sixth wicket helped propel India to an ultimately defendable total.  

“We could have done a little more in the first innings, with our bowling plans. We started off really well. We got a couple of wickets upfront. But then we had a partnership in the middle that we couldn’t really break. We could’ve bowled a little bit better towards the back end of the Indian innings,” reflected Proteas all-rounder Chloe Tryon after the match.

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“With our batting it was errors. We made small mistakes, whereas we could have done a little bit better… We didn’t have enough partnerships, which made it a bit hard towards the end of our innings.”

South Africa will have an immediate bounce-back opportunity when they take on West Indies on Saturday, 21 January at the same venue, as they continue their journey towards hosting the T20 World Cup.

The tournament will take place between 10 and 26 February in Cape Town, Paarl and Gqeberha. DM