Smriti Mandhana scored a stylish 90, leading India to a six-wicket victory over South Africa in the final women’s ODI, completing a 3-0 series sweep. Supported by Shafali Verma, Priya Punia, and Harmanpreet Kaur, Mandhana showcased her batting prowess, while the Indian bowlers restricted South Africa to 215.
Batting first, South Africa struggled despite a solid start from Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits. Wolvaardt’s 61 seemed promising, but the Indian bowlers, led by Arundhati Reddy and Deepti Sharma, turned the tide. The Proteas collapsed, managing only 215 for eight in their 50 overs.
In reply, India’s chase was spearheaded by Mandhana, who played graceful shots all around the ground. Contributions from Verma, Punia, and Kaur ensured India reached the target comfortably in 40.4 overs, finishing at 220 for four. Mandhana’s performance throughout the series was exceptional, underlining her dominance with 343 runs at an average of 114.33.
Following her team’s clinical victory India captain Harmanpreet Kaur credited the bowlers for bundling out South Africa cheaply.
“The last two camps we had (one in Bangalore and one in Mumbai) gave us a lot of confidence. Credit goes to the bowlers, they have been outstanding today. I tell the bowlers to stick to their strength and just giving them confidence and giving them field placement as they want – all of them, they did well and really happy and really proud that they are improving day by day. We will enjoy our win tonight, but there is a Test match and then a T20 series coming up, so we need to think about our plans for that as well,” said Kaur in the post match presentation.
On the other hand, South Africa skippe Laura Wolvaardt rued losing wickets in quick succession despite a good start with the bat in the first innings.
“Didn’t have enough runs on the board, we had a good start and unfortunate to lose too many wickets in the middle and not build any partnerships after that. Looking at how they chased, I think we needed 300 again, just the lack of partnerships hurt us. We have played good cricket in patches, need to be a lot more consistent. Like to see more consistency. We don’t play too much of red-ball cricket, have a few days to refresh and get onto the Test plans. I am really excited and looking forward to it,” said Laura Wolvaardt in the post-match presentation.
Meawhile, after the ODI series, the two teams will take on each other in one-off Test beginning from June 28 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
Source Agencies
