Ismail, Lee put South Africa 1-0 up

South Africa women 127 for 6 (Lee 46, Wolvaardt 30, Kubra 3-23) beat Bangladesh women 110 for 5 (Ahmed 36, Hoque 35, Ismail 3-19) by 17 runs
Scorecard

Seamer Shabnim Ismail's three-for and opener Lizelle Lee's 38-ball 46 helped South Africa beat Bangladesh by 17 runs and go 1-0 up in the three-match T20I series.

Having elected to bat at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley, South Africa openers Lee and Laura Wolvaardt put together 77 by the 10th over. Wolvaardt's wicket, however, sent them sliding as spinners Rumana Ahmed and Khadija Tul Kubra ran through the top order to pick up four wickets in the space of 20 deliveries.

Sune Luus steered them to safety, making an unbeaten 28 off just 23 balls from No. 7 to lift them from 86 for 5 in the 13th over to 127 for 6 at the end of 20 overs.

Bangladesh slipped to 14 for 2 in the fifth over, and from there on, South Africa didn't look back. Ahmed and Fargana Hoque put together 72 off just 68 balls for the third wicket to keep Bangladesh in the hunt, before Ismail returned to rattle the middle order. She had Rumana caught by Mignon du Preez for 36 and then sent Nigar Sultana back for a first-ball duck to stifle them.

Bangladesh needed 32 off two overs, but tight overs from Kapp and Ismail closed out the game.