Nini stars on international debut as Proteas beat Zimbabwe

Ikageng-born Nthabiseng Nini announced herself on the international stage in style, taking three wickets on her debut as South Africa defeated Zimbabwe by six wickets in the first of five T20I matches at Harare Sports Club on Friday.

Nini produced a player of the match performance on her international debut, returning figures of 3/17 in 3.3 overs to help dismiss the hosts for 117. She then watched as Anneke Bosch produced a career-best T20I score of 83 off 43 balls, including 11 fours and three sixes, to guide South Africa to victory.

Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat, but the home side made a poor start as the Proteas applied pressure through early wickets.

Nini became only the second Proteas Women player, after Chloé Tryon, to take a wicket with her first ball in international cricket when she removed opener Nyasha Gwanzura for three.

The debutant struck again four balls later, ripping through Kelis Ndhlovu’s defence for a duck. Eliz-Mari Marx then claimed another wicket, before Nini took her third scalp to leave Zimbabwe struggling at 12/4 in the fourth over.

The hosts recovered to 33/4 at the end of the powerplay, with top-scorer Modeste Mupachikwa (36) and Beloved Biza (13) adding 35 runs for the fifth wicket before Kayla Reyneke broke the partnership in the eighth over.

Despite losing her partner, Mupachikwa continued to lead the Lady Chevrons’ recovery, combining with Michelle Mavunga (21) to take Zimbabwe to 81/5 before Annerie Dercksen dismissed Mavunga.

Zimbabwe brought up three figures before Reyneke struck again in the 18th over to remove the dangerous Mupachikwa. Captain Nomvelo Sibanda added an important 15 runs before further wickets from Reyneke and Dercksen brought the Zimbabwean innings to an end at 117 all out in the final over.

South Africa also suffered an early setback in the chase, losing captain Laura Wolvaardt for six to Gwanzura (2/19) midway through the second over.

That, however, did little to slow the visitors as Bosch and Nondumiso Shangase (18) guided South Africa to a positive start, reaching the end of the powerplay on 45/1.

The pair soon brought up a 50-run partnership for the second wicket, with Bosch taking the attack to the hosts. The 33-year-old then raised her bat for her sixth career T20I half-century as the Proteas Women raced towards the target.

Loreen Tshuma eventually ended their 68-run partnership, leaving South Africa on 75/2 at the halfway mark.

Zimbabwe claimed two more wickets, with Mavunga (1/10) and Gwanzura dismissing Faye Tunnicliffe for one and the dangerous Bosch late in the chase.

But the damage had already been done. South Africa reached the target with 41 balls to spare, sealing an emphatic six-wicket victory and taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

The second T20I gets underway on Sunday, 13 September, at Queens Sports Club.