IND-W vs SA-W 3rd ODI Highlights: Smriti Mandhana’s 90 helps India seal series 3-0 against South Africa

After India’s bowlers did their job and restricted South Africa to a below-par total of 215, opener Smriti Mandhana along with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur eased the host towards its series clean sweep. Smriti was well on her way to her record-breaking eighth ODI century, but it was spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba who scalped the Indian’s wicket when the batter was at 90. After the opener’s wicket, it was captain Harmanpreet with her 42 runs who played an important role in seeing off the game. Next up, both sides travel to Chennai for a one-off Test match and a 3-match T20I series.

India defeats South Africa by six wickets to complete its 10th clean sweep in ODIs. Here are the other occasions where the side has achieved that feat:

India beats South Africa 3-0 in ODI series: Full list of clean sweeps achieved by Women in Blue

India Women beat South Africa by six wickets in the third and final One-Day International at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday to register a 3-0 series clean sweep.

Just two runs to win. Jemimah on strike. Sekhukhune with the ball. The batters try a single, but there’s a direct throw on the wickets. Third umpire. OUT! Harmanpreet is run out for 42 runs off 48 balls. Still two runs to go for India to clinch the win. Richa Ghosh comes in. And she wins it for India with a SIX! 

Khaka bowling her penultimate over. Only seven runs to win for India. Two runs from Jemimah, now just five runs to win. Third umpire goes upstairs. Jemimah might be run out. She’s not, as she’s safely inside the crease. A two to end the over.

Mlaba bowling her final over. 200 up for India. The India batters relying on singles to reach their target. No hurry whatsover. A full toss on the last ball and Harmanpreet slaps it for a FOUR towards square leg.

Khaka bowling. Just three runs off the over.

Mlaba bowls her penultimate over. Great fielding at square leg by Nadine de Klerk to save a potential boundary from Harmanpreet’s bat. Jemimah with a FOUR, as she sweeps the ball towards fine leg. Slight drizzle has started once again at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Khaka returns for her seventh over. Just a couple of singles in the over.

Sekhukhune bowling her eighth. Harmanpreet tries to scoop it over but the shot strikes her helmet. The physio comes on for a concussion check. A great block with her foot from Sekhukhune as she closes the over with a dot ball.

De Klerk bowling her eighth over. A leg bye and a wide to start the over. Just a couple of singles. India taking its sweet time to walk towards a clean sweep in this ODI series.

India needs 41 runs off 108 balls. Comfortable enough, unless South African bowlers pull out a couple of rabbits out of their hats. Sekhukhune returns to the attack. Just three runs off the over.

Just the four runs from De Klerk’s seventh over.

Smriti enters her 90s with a single of Mlaba’s ball. Harmanpreet takes a single to give the strike back to the almost centurion. WICKET! Smriti will have to wait to beat Mithali Raj’s record as she goes back to the pavilion for 90. The batter tries to sweep it towards square leg but the ball catches the top edge of the bat and falls comfortably for Khaka.

De Klerk is back. FOUR! Beautifully lofted over cover by Mandhana for a boundary. She moves to 89 with that boundary. Misfield to end the over and Kaur will steal a couple of runs. 

Mlaba back into the attack. Just five singles from the over as she keeps the ball on a good length. Mandhana moves to 84. 

Sekhukhune again. Flicked in the air and just a single at deep midwicket as Kapp collects the ball on the bounce. Full and on the pads and flicked to fine-leg by Kaur for a single. That’s 150 on the board for India in 27.2 overs. FOUR! Driven over point by Mandhana for a boundary and she moves to 80 with that shot. 

Shangase bowls her fifth over. FOUR! A rank long hop and Kaur duly deposits that to the square-leg boundary with a fierce pull shot. Clipped off the pads by Kaur for one more. Punched through cover by Mandhana for a single to end the over. 

Sekhukhune continues. Flicked uppishly to deep square-leg by Mandhana for a single. Going down leg-side and wide given. Driven back to the bowler by Kaur. That seemed a little dangerous from the Indian skipper. Shortish and pulled away for a single by Kaur. FOUR! Lofted over cover by Mandhana and she finds the boundary as there’s another sloppy effort in the deep by the South Africans. Tucked off the pads next ball for a single by Mandhana. 

Shangase again. Three singles off the first three balls of the over. Guided with soft hands to third-man for a couple by Kaur. Flicked on the leg-side for a couple more by Kaur to end the over. 

Sekhukhune comes back. Kaur is hit on the helmet trying to paddle this and the physio is out for a concussion check. She is okay to continue though. Just two singles from this over. 

OUT! Punia has to walk back. Slashed outside off and caught at backward point. Harmanpreet Kaur comes in next. Earlier in the over, Mandhana collected a boundary at fine-leg off an inside edge. She moves to 64 at the end the over. 

Priya Punia c Bosch b Khaka 28 (40b 3x4 1x6)

Shangase continues. SIX! Punia steps out and clears the long-on boundary to collect six runs. Nine runs from the over. 

Khaka returns for her fifth over. Pulled away by Mandhana for just a single at deep midwicket. Just three runs from the over. Punia isn’t really getting her timing right. 

Shangase returns for her second over and right at the off, she is hit for a FOUR by Priya towards long off. This boundary brings 100 up for India. Six off the over.

Mlaba continues. It was going for the spinner until Priya’s shot that was meant towards cover found the edge and raced towards third man for a FOUR. She takes a single to retain the strike.

Nondumiso Shangase comes in, newest bowler to try and restrict India’s chase. A couple of runs from Smriti’s sweep that rolled towards fine leg. A FOUR from Smriti over long off, and that’s 50 up for the India opener.

Mlaba back. The spinner is forcing Priya to be on her front foot defense, with the ball turning a good deal. A maiden over by Mlaba. Time for drinks.

De Klerk continues with her spell. Priya takes a single. A quick single from Smriti as she pushes the ball towards mid on. Just three from the over.

Mlaba returns and she is hit for a FOUR by Priya towards the covers. Great sound off the bat. Priya hits it towards square leg, but the racing ball was stopped at the ropes. Smriti effortlessly hits the ball for a FOUR towards covers. She’s edging closer towards her half century.

De Klerk returns for her second spell. Smriti times it well as she adds another FOUR to her kitty, this time towards deep square leg. Five runs off the over.

Mlaba is back. Priya gets off the mark with a couple of runs after playing it towards third man. The batter defends the ball to end the over.

Sekhukhune back and Smriti flicks it off the pads towards fine leg for a single. WICKET! Shafali cuts it towards backward point but Aneke Bosch is there to catch it. Shafali goes back to the pavilion after scoring 25 off 39 balls. Priya Punia is the new batter at the crease as she faces the side against whom she made her debut back in 2019. She hits her first delivery towards mid on for a dot.

Mlaba continues. Smriti flicks it towards point for a single. Shafali slaps it over Mlaba’s head towards long off for a FOUR! A dot ball to end the over.

Sekhukhune will continue. She strays on the pads and Mandhana clips it away with ease to fine-leg for a single. Shafali gets an inside edge on the drive and the collects a couple of runs at deep backward square-leg. Inside edge again for Shafali and the ball thuds into her pads. India looking comfortable at the end of the PowerPlay. 

Mlaba into the attack. She starts off with two consecutive wides. Just four runs from the over. India brought up its 50 in nine overs. 

Sekhukhune into the attack. First bowling change for South Africa. Starts with a big wide down leg-side. FOUR! Pulled away to the midwicket boundary by Mandhana as the ball rises up just to her waist level for her to go through with the shot. Another wide ball down leg-side. Six runs off the first ball already. Sekhukhune comes around the wicket now. She still strays on the pads and nudged behind by Mandhana for two more. Going down leg-side again and called wide. 

Khaka again. FOUR! Beautifully placed through the off-side by Shafali. This ball sat up outside off and she adjusted well to make some room and cut away behind point for a boundary. 

De Klerk will bowl again. FOUR! Driven through cover by Mandhana off the front foot for a boundary. FOUR! Length ball on middle and leg and Mandhana tucks this away to the square-leg boundary. FOUR! Consecutive boundaries for Mandhana. She comes on the front foot again and drives through cover. Cut away by Mandhana and this falls just short of the backward point fielder. 12 runs from the over. 

Khaka will continue. A couple of runs for Shafali to end the over after five dot balls in a row. She shuffled across the stumps to clip this off her pads behind square-leg. Good fielding in the deep to save the boundary. 

De Klerk will continue. A quick single by Mandhan after driving the ball to mid-off. Direct-hit at the bowler’s end and Mandhana could be in trouble. And her bat is grounded just in time. FOUR! Shafali drives this square of the wicket through point with an open bat-face to find another boundary. Eight runs from the over. 

Khaka again. FOUR! Full and crisply driven through extra-cover by Shafali for a boundary. She breaks the shackles after three consecutive dot-balls. 

Nadine de Klerk will bowl from the other end. Shaping away wide outside off and Shafali shoulders arms. Punched to cover by Shafali for another dot ball. Now Shafali defends solidly to the cover fielder. Shaping away again outside off and Shafali again lets it go. Five dot balls in a row now as Shafali again leaves the ball outside off. Driven to mid-off by Shafali to end the over with a single. 

Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma are out to open the innings for India after the rain delay. Ayabonga Khaka with the new ball. Fullish and angling away and Mandhana lets the ball go. Guided to cover by Mandhana for another dot-ball. Punched back to the bowler by Mandhana for another dot. Cut away through cover-point by Mandhana for a couple of runs and India is off the mark. Inside edge, Mandhana almost chops on and is lucky to collect a couple more behind the keeper. 

“There was a slight drizzle. Stopped and match all set to resume at 5.37 PM IST,” says our reporter from the venue. No reduction in overs. 

The covers come on at the venue and there is a slight drizzle in the air in Bengaluru. Let’s hope it’s not too long a break. 

It was a great start by openers Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits, who brought up South Africa’s 100 without the loss of a wicket. Arundhati Reddy got the breakthrough with skipper Wolvaardt’s wicket in the 20th over. After then, it was tough for the Proteas to sustain a partnership as Deepti Sharma, among others, slowly and steadily picked apart South Africa’s batting. Meike de Ridder’s unbeaten 26 runs off 31 balls gave some hope to the Proteas to end the innings on a good note. Now, India needs 216 in 50 overs to complete its clean sweep in this ODI series against South Africa.

Pooja Vastrakar will be bowling the final over. De Ridder tries to scoop the ball and use the pace for a boundary, but they get only a couple of runs. The next ball, de Ridder gets a FOUR as she pulls a short pitched ball that runs towards fine leg. That seemed close, as Pooja bowls a wide. Another FOUR for de Ridder. Smart batting as she scoops a slower one past a diving Richa towards fine third man. De Ridder looks for her third boundary but Jemimah says NO, as she dives and saves two runs at square leg. Just the one run from the last ball.

The ball has been handed to Radha for South Africa’s penultimate over. A review has been taken by India, as the ball seemed to have gone off de Ridder’s pads. However, the review shows that it was the batter’s gloves that grazed the ball. 200 comes up for South Africa.

It’s Shreyanka with her final over of the day. A great bit of turn as de Ridder tries to hit but misses. However, the ball goes past Richa and runs to the boundary for a FOUR. There was another instance for a caught and bowled wicket but the ball falls just short of Shreyanka.

Radha is brought back in. She’s bowling her penultimate over. A flighted ball is defended by Sekhukhune. Just the two runs as the lights flicker on at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Shreyanka is back for her penultimate over. De Ridder deftly pushes the ball towards third man but Radha Yadav saves two runs with good fielding. 

Deepti is bowling her last over of the innings. De Ridder scoops it over Richa’s head for a single, despite a call for a second between the batters. Sekhukhune goes for the big shot but misses. She defends the next ball. Just a couple of singles from the over.

Pooja is back for her eighth over. Great start for the pacer with a couple of dot balls. Just the one run from it courtesy a wide.

OUT! Deepti strikes and De Klerk is clean bowled. Just tries to pull a shortish delivery and misses only to see her leg-stump knocked out. OUT! Mlaba is castled next ball and Deepti is on a hat-trick. 

Sekhukhune is in next and survives the hat-trick ball. The fielders close in on the off-side. 

Nadine de Klerk b Deepti Sharma 26 (46b 2x4)

Vastrakar is back in the attack. OUT! Another run out, but there is some confusion surrounding the batter that has to go back. It is Shangase who will have to walk back to the dugout. Meike de Ridder is greeted by a bouncer and gets a couple of runs with a top edge that goes over the keeper. 

Nondumiso Shangase run out 16 (29b 2x4)

Radha continues. De Klerk misses another sweep off the last ball of the over. Radha continues to trouble the right-hander outside the off-stump area. Just two singles. 

Arundhati bowls out. FOUR! Short and pulled away to the square-leg boundary by Shangase. Whipped away to fine-leg by Shangase for one more as Arundhati bowls this one too straight. Driven on the up to deep cover by De Klerk for one more to end the over. Arundhati ends her bowling quota with excellent figures of 2/36 from her 10 overs. 

Radha is back with the ball. She tosses one up outside off to beat De Klerk’s sweep shot. De Klerk goes for the sweep again and collects a single at deep midwicket. Just the two singles from the over as Radha deceives the batters in flight. 

Arundhati is reintroduced. FOUR! Finally a boundary to end the over. This was pitched up in the slot by Arundhati and Shangase lifted it over mid-on to find the boundary. 

Shreyanka returns. She goes around the wicket Shangase. Loud appeal for LBW as Shreyanka turns the ball into the right-hander and beats her. The finger goes up but South Africa reviews. Shangase survives as ball tracking shows this was going over the stumps. Another loud appeal for LBW and this time De Klerk is given out. South Africa reviews again. There is a thick inside edge and both batters get a lifeline in the same over. 

Vastrakar with the ball again. She varies her lengths to good effect. The short stuff, yorker and the low full toss, all thrown in. Just three runs from it. 

Deepti bowls her eighth over. 150 up for South Africa with a single off the second ball of the over. Three singles and the South African batters are in no mood to attack or take any risks at this point. 

Vastrakar will continue. A couple of wides from her for height. But just three runs from it. 

Deepti is back. A couple of runs for De Klerk through the off-side. Just three runs from the over as Deepti continues to be economical. Just 20 runs from her seven overs. 

Pooja Vastrakar is back for her second spell, bowling her fourth over. WICKET! Pooja bowls Sune Luus as she gets the batter’s mid stump.

De Klerk hits a FOUR through the off side as the new batters on the crease try to build up a steady partnership. Time for a drinks break.

Radha continues with the bowling. FOUR! Nadine de Klerk sweeps it towards mid wicket as the ball runs to the boundary. 

Shreyanka continues her spell with her sixth over. Nadine de Klerk is off the mark with a single. A wide and a few singles from the over.

Radha Yadav beck for her second spell. A much needed boundary as Luus hits it over mid on. 

Shreyanka is back for her second spell, replacing Deepti. WICKET! Catching batters off their own bowling seems to the norm of the day as Shreyanka takes Kapp’s wicket. Nadine de Klerk is the newest batter on the crease. Great over by the spinner as she concedes just the one run.

Harmanpreet is sitting out the last few overs as her left arm finger is massaged by a physio perhaps. Just the four runs from the over.

Deepti back for her sixth over. Just the single run from the over.

Arundhati continues with her seventh over. Great running between the wickets as the batters steal a single quickly as Shafali slightly misfields the ball. WICKET! Arundhati takes another wicket in the same way, this time catching Bosch’s shot off her own ball. Sune Luus comes in as the new batter on the crease. A dot on the last ball.

Deepti continues her spell with her fifth over. Indian bowlers are doing well to slow down South Africa’s scoring rate. Bosch ends the over with a boundary towards square leg.

Arundhati back for her sixth over. Great attempt at mid off by skipper Harmanpreet but she fails to collect the ball as the batters take a single. Just the one run from the over.

Deepti Sharma is back for her fourth over. Kapp is off the mark with a single. WICKET! There’s some miscommunication between the batters as Brits commits too early for the single, but Kapp is unmoved. Shreyanka’s throw found Richa as she calmly stumped the wickets. Anneke Bosch comes in for Brits.

Arundhati continues. Driven to deep cover by Wolvaardt, and the ball ricochets off the stumps at the bowler’s end off a throw and the single turns to a couple. Hundred up for South Africa in 19.1 overs. The Bengaluru wicket continues to be a batter’s paradise. OUT! Drilled back to the bowler by Wolvaardt and Arundhati holds on to a brilliant catch off her own bowling. Marizanne Kapp comes in and defends the first ball back to the bowler. 

Radha continues. Tossed up on off-stump and driven to long-off by Brits for a single. FOUR! Tossed up on leg-stump now and Wolvaardt sweeps this to the fine-leg boundary. Punched down the ground by Wolvaardt for one more. Driven to deep cover by Brits for another single to end the over. 

Arundhati is back. A quick single to end the over. Direct-hit at the bowler’s end could have been curtains for Brits. Four runs from the over. 

Radha returns for her third over. SIX! Brits steps out and takes it on the full to smash it over deep midwicket for half a dozen. Eight runs from the over. Wolvaardt brings up her fifty off 45 balls. 

Shreyanka comes back for her fourth over. She keeps it on a length around off-stump and just a single off the first three balls. This one is tossed up outside off but Brits drives straight to the extra-cover fielder. Drifting on the pads and tucked away for a couple by Brits. Punched to long-on for one more by Brits to end the over. Time for drinks. 

Smriti Mandhana comes into the attack and a huge roar follows from the Bengaluru crowd. Cut away for a couple by Wolvaardt off the first ball. Strayed down leg-side and nudged away for a single. On the pads again, and a leg-bye as Brits misses the whip on leg-side. FOUR! Too much width outside off and Wolvaardt gets a bottom edge and the ball runs away to the boundary at third-man. A couple more off the next delivery and this is turning out to be an expensive over. Driven by Wolvaardt for a single off the last ball and 11 runs from it. 

FOUR! Short from Radha and Wolvaardt won’t miss out on that one. She pulls it to the midwicket boundary to inject some momentum into the innings. Just three singles after that first-ball boundary. 

Deepti will continue. She continues to be economical, just three runs from the over. After that 17-run over from Vastrakar, the runs have dried up for South Africa. Wolvaardt looks to find some momentum off the last ball of the over with a slog sweep but finds just the single at deep midwicket. 

The physios come on to the field to tend to Brits’ finger on her right hand. This is due to Deepti’s throw towards the keeper on the last ball in the last over, that hit the South African batter’s hand. Radha Yadav has been given the ball for her first over. A decent over as just the three runs from it.

Deepti continues. She keeps it on a good length, allowing just four runs from the over. Fifty up for South Africa in 11 overs. 

Pooja returns for her third over. Great shot by Wolvaardt down the ground, a straight hit for a FOUR. The Proteas skipper finds the gap towards mid wicket and slashes it for another FOUR. This is a South African onslaught on Pooja’s bowling! Another FOUR by Wolvaardt, this time towards the covers as the ball whizzes past diving fielders. The three back-to-back boundaries seem to have affected Pooja’s confidence as she bowls a wide in the fourth ball. Wolvaardt hits the fourth FOUR, this time towards sqaure leg. An expensive over for India, and a good end to the first powerplay for South Africa.

Deepti Sharma is the newest bowler to join India’s bowling attack. Chants of ‘RCB, RCB’ boom around the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, as has been the norm in the past two ODIs. Good start for Deepti as she concedes only the two runs.

Pooja shows her aggressive side with another bouncer towards Wolvaardt’s leg side, but the umpire gives it a wide. Another shout for a leg before wicket, this time the ball striking Brits’ pads, but the umpire is not interested. Rightly so, the ball was missing the leg stump.

Arundhati returns and has a good over. Just the two runs from it, as the Proteas batters would want to amp up their scoring rate.

A misfield from Shafali gives the Proteas a FOUR to the Proteas.

Only a single fielder at the boundary, at deep square leg. Wolvaardt and Brits batting cautiously, flicking the ball towards the rope for a couple of singles. Four runs from the over.

Arundhati returns for her second over. A few singles in the first few balls for South Africa as the Proteas’ slow start continues. So far, some great fielding by the women in blue all around the ground.

Shreyanka continues her spell. After a great start to the over, Brits sweeps it towards fine leg for a FOUR. 

Arundhati Reddy comes in for her first over. There’s a lot of movement in Reddy’s deliveries as well, very similar to the second ODI. There was a strong appeal on the fourth ball as the ball caught Brits’ pads, but it was missing the leg stump. Just a couple of overs from the over.

Wolvaardt starts with defending the first ball, and then taking a single in the second, putting Brits on strike. The offie’s deliveries are spinning quite acutely as Brits was almost caught off guard, twice in a row. Brits fails to get bat on ball on the last ball of the over, that spun a lot. Just the one run.

It’s Tazmin Brits and skipper Laura Wolvaardt at the crease. Shreyanka Patil to open the bowling.

Former India pacer David Johnson passed away a few days back. The men’s team had donned black armbands as well in Johnson’s remembrance during their T20 World Cup campaign.

Former India pacer David Johnson passes away

Former India pacer David Johnson passed away on Thursday in Bengaluru at the age of 52. He played in two Test matches in 1996, taking three wickets. 

India names two changes as Shreyanka Patil and Priya Punia comes in the squad.

Playing XIs:

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Priya Punia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil

South Africa: L. Wolvaardt (c), T. Brits, A. Bosch, S. Luus, M. Kapp, N. de Klerk, N. Shangase, M. Ridder (wk), T. Sekhukhune, N. Mlaba, A. Khaka

South Africa wins the toss and choses to bat first.

India will hope to carry on the winning momentum before they go to Chennai for a one-off Test match and three T20Is. Here’s the match preview for the Indian Women vs South Africa Women 3rd ODI:

IND-W vs SA-W: India Women aims for clean sweep against South Africa

Mandhana thus became the first Indian woman batter to score two successive hundreds in ODIs, and she also equalled Mithali Raj’s record of seven one-day centuries.

It was a nail-biter of match that saw four centuries, two from the Indian camp (Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur) and two from South Africa (Marizanne Kapp and Laura Wolvaardt). At the end, it was Pooja Vastrakar’s nerve that pulled off a brilliant last over, thereby handing the victory to India, which sealed the series with a 4-run win over the Proteas.

Here’s the match report by our correspondent N Sudarshan:

IND-W vs SA-W: Mandhana-Harmanpreet show, Pooja’s final over hand India nailbiting series-sealing win in Bengaluru

South Africa was shoddy in the field, dropping as many as three catches, fluffing two run-outs and a stumping, mistakes that cost the tie.

While Asha Sobhana and Annerie Dercksen were handed ODI debuts by India and South Africa respectively in the first ODI, pace bowling allrounder Arundhati Reddy was handed her ODI debut for India in the second ODI.

INDIA: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Uma Chetri (WK), Dayalan Hemlatha, Radha Yadav, Asha Sobhana, Shreyanka Patil, Saika Ishaque, Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, Priya Punia.

SOUTH AFRICA: Laura Wolvaardt (c), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Mieke de Ridder, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Suné Luus, Eliz-Mari Marz, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukune, Nondumiso Shangase, Delmi Tucker.

The third ODI between India Women and South Africa Women in Bengaluru will be broadcast on the Sports18 Network. The match can be caught live on the JioCinema app and website as well.