Bengaluru (Karnataka): India Women beat South Africa women by six wickets on Sunday to seal the three-match ODI series by 3-0. The whitewash was orchestrated thanks to Smriti Mandhana’s stellar knock of 90 and a collective effort from the bowling unit.
India opener Mandhana made the chase of 216 runs look easy right from the start. She first stitched an opening partnership of 61 runs with Shafali Verma (25) before the latter made the long back to the pavilion. One-down Priya Punia then contributed 28 runs before Ayabonga Khaka got her wicket at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here.
Skipper Harmanpreet then joined forces with Smriti, who was hitting some brilliant strokes from one end. Smriti’s knock ended just 10 runs short of a 100, which would have made her the India batter with the most tons in the ODIs surpassing legendary Mithali Raj.
Harmanpreet (42) and Jemimah Rodrigues (19 not out) took India to the verge of a win with a solid partnership. Richa Ghosh finished the game in style with a six over long on as the hosts completed the run chase in 40.4 overs.
Earlier in the day, South Africa opted to bat and they scored 102 runs for the opening wicket. Laura Wolvaardt was dismissed on 61 runs and the innings suffered a collapse after that. Tazmin Brits managed to amass 38 runs for the team but her knock was not enough to help them post a challenging total.
Arundhati Reddy and Deepti Sharma picked two wickets each to restrict the opposition to 215/8. Shreyanka Patil and Pooja Vastrakar scalped one wicket each and helped the side register a clean sweep over the opposition.
The action moves to Chennai now where the only Test and the three-match T20 series will be played at the iconic M A Chidambaram Stadium.
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