India Women vs South Africa Women, Highlights, Cricket Score, 1st T20I at Lucknow: Visitors win by 8 wickets

Toggle between the tabs above to switch between quick scorecard, full scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary Preview: After getting outplayed in the one-dayers by a 4-1 series margin, Team India will hope to start on a fresh note and bounce back in the shorter format when they take on the first of the three scheduled women’s Twenty20 Internationals against South Africa in Lucknow. The Indians, however, will be without the services of T20I captain and hard-hitting batter Harmanpreet Kaur, who has been ruled out of the series opener with opening bat and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana taking over the responsibility on Saturday. South Africa had earlier extended India’s miserable run in the ODI series — which was their first international assignment since the Women’s T20 World Cup last year — as they cruised to a five-wicket victory over the hosts in the fifth and final match earlier this week on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_9442811” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  File image of Smriti Mandhana. AP[/caption] Opting to field after winning the toss for the fourth time in five games, the Proteas never let Mithali Raj and company get going during the innings as they kept a stranglehold through wickets at regular intervals. While skipper Mithali top-scored with an unbeaten 79, with able support from Harmanpreet (30), the rest of the Indian lineup couldn’t quite back her efforts up as they finished on 188/9, with Harmanpreet having retired hurt. South Africa, in response, were off to a shaky start as they lost three wickets with just 27 on board, before the middle-order duo of Mignon du Preez (57) and Anne Bosch (58) rescued the visitors with a 96-run stand, which laid the foundation for the five-wicket win. The T20I series will be India’s first assignment in the format since last year’s T20 World Cup. Squads: India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper), Nuzhat Parveen (wicket-keeper), Ayushi Soni, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, C. Prathyusha, Simran Dil Bahadur. South Africa: Sune Luus (c), Ayabonga Khaka, Shabnim Ismail, Laura Wolvaardt, Trisha Chetty, Sinalo Jafta, Tasmin Britz, Marizanne Kapp, Nondumiso Shangase, Lizelle Lee, Anneke Bosch, Faye Tunnicliffe, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Mignon du Preez, Nadine de Klerk, Lara Goodall, Tumi Sekhukhune.