There’s no time and place for complacency in T20 cricket. India cannot and should not have sat back after a dominant showing against South Africa thus far in the multi-format tour where it swept the ODIs 3-0 and sealed a Test triumph by 10 wickets.
Lapses aplenty in the field and allowing the opponent to run away with momentum, costing the side in the first of three T20Is with the host falling short in a nervy game by just 12 runs on Friday.
Similarly, the win for the Proteas will come with more lessons than celebration as it was anything but a walk in the park.
Come Sunday, both teams will clash again with the visitor hoping to seal the series while India will look to peg one back at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium here.
On a slow Chennai track, bowlers on both sides struggled to put a lid on the runs for most part of the evening. Timing and placement were key as Marizanne Kapp displayed for South Africa, utilising the full arc of the leg side to find the fence.
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Her Delhi Capitals teammate Jemimah Rodrigues did the same for India, fluently picking gaps in the field to amp up the scoring rate, as did Smriti Mandhana early on.
India’s focus ahead of the second fixture will be to back up its bowlers with efficiency and pressure from the field.
Shreyanka Patil not making the XI in the first game surprised many and India might decide to give her a go in the coming fixtures.
Arundhati Reddy’s non-inclusion in the Test was potentially to save her for the T20Is. India has room to try her out in place of Renuka Singh, should the side be in a mood to experiment.
Eliz Mari-Marx was taken to the cleaners by the Indian batting lineup and, while not a like-for-like replacement, Sune Luus – who sat out the first game – could take her place, being handy with both bat and ball.
Will Kapp bowl - this question will take centre stage once more, with the all-rounder yet to take the ball in this tour.
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