The Indian women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur said the team’s below-par batting show in the first T20 International against South Africa here had left her nervous before the bowlers rose to the challenge with a stellar effort.

Harmanpreet was the only Indian batswoman to play an impactful knock, scoring 43, while the rest of her colleagues failed to chip in with any notable contribution. India posted 130 after being put in to bat on Tuesday.

The bowlers, led by player of the match Deepti Sharma (4/8), produced an impressive show to dismiss South Africa for 119 in 19.5 overs.

“I was nervous at the halfway stage but we knew that we’d have something for the bowlers. They did a great job,” Harmanpreet said after the match.

“We were doing a lot of fitness before coming here and we got the result on the field. The way we fielded and bowled, I was happy,” she said.

“Lot of areas to improve…need to improve a lot with the bat. We are playing with an extra batter; so if batters do well, we can do even better,” said the 30-year-old.

She said she had trusted Radha Yadav to do well in the final over of the South African run chase and eventually the left-armer took two wickets to end the visiting side’s innings.

Star of the match Deepti said her effort was the “best bowling performance” of her career.“We bowled how I had planned. Got help from the wicket too. The plan was to bowl wicket to wicket and it was turning, so I pitched it up too,” she said.

“The mindset was to bowl in front. We were confident at the halfway mark. And we wanted to enjoy. If you enjoy, you automatically do well,” the 22-year-old off-spinner said.