The Indian women’s team defeated South Africa by six wickets to win the ODI series 3-0 in Bengaluru. After the 50-over leg, Both teams will travel to Chennai for the only Test match before playing three T20Is. Talking about the game, the Women in Blue lost the toss and had a struggling start with the ball.
South Africa posted a 102-run stand after which captain Laura Wolvaardt was dismissed after a 57-ball 61. This wicket led to a massive batting collapse as the Proteas went from 102-1 to 143-5. The South African batters continued their struggles and could only add 113 more runs in their 50 overs. For India, Arundhati Reddy and Deepti Sharma picked up two wickets each while Shreyanka Patil picked one.
Chasing this total, Team India cruised through with every batter scoring valuable runs. The opening pair added 61 before Shafali Verma got out. While opener Smriti Mandhana continued her stellar form to hold one end up and stitch up crucial partnerships with Priya Punia and Harmanpreet Kaur.
But unlike the previous two games, the Indian vice-captain could complete a century as she got out at 90. After Mandhana; Kaur, Jemimh Rodrigues and Richha Ghosh were responsible for scoring the remaining runs and sealing a six-wicket win.
Talking about her performance, Mandhana said, ” Unfortunate to miss out on a 100 today. Those kind of shots (sweep) sometimes come off and you need to keep backing yourself. The bowlers bowled really well and for us it is just about applying ourselves with the bat. We have a series left, Asia Cup and then the World Cup. After today’s over I don’t I will get to bowl again, tried my hand in the previous game and got lucky, always good to add a different skill and if it comes off then it is the best feeling.”