[Watch] Smriti Mandhana hits a six to reach her 50 and take India over the line in IND-W vs SA-W T20I series decider
Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana delivered with the bat as India Women beat South Africa Women by 10 wickets in the third and final T20I against South Africa on Tuesday, July 9. The left-hander scored 54 runs off 40 balls with the help of two sixes and eight boundaries. She hit the winning six to take the Women in Blue past the finish line.
The winning shot came in the 11th over of India’s run-chase. Nadine de Klerk bowled a juicy full toss on the pads and Mandhana deposited the ball over the fine leg. With the shot, she also brought up her half-century.
Watch the shot below:
Mandhana, the Player of the Month for June, scored 46 off 30 deliveries in the first T20I. The hosts, however, lost that game by 12 runs.
Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma help India beat South Africa by 10 wickets after a terrific bowling display
Smriti Mandhana and her opening partner Shafali Verma delivered with the bat as India achieved the target against the Proteas with 9.1 overs to spare. Shafali scored an unbeaten 27 off 25, hitting three boundaries.
Asked to bat first, SA were bundled out for 84 in 17.1 overs. Tazmin Brits, Anneke Bosch and Marizanne Kapp were the three batters to reach double digits. The trio chipped in with scores of 20 (23), 17 (14) and 10 (8), respectively.
Pooja Vastrakar was the leading wicket-taker for the hosts, returning with exceptional figures of 4/13 in her 3.1 overs. Radha Yadav was equally brilliant, finishing with a staggering 3/6, including a maiden in her three overs. Meanwhile, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil and Deepti Sharma settled for one wicket each.
With the win, Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. completed a dominant run against against SA at home. They won the ODI series 3-0 and beat the visitors by 10 wickets in the only Test match before leveling the T20I series 1-1.
India Women will next participate in the upcoming Women’s Asia Cup 2024. They will face arch-rivals Pakistan Women in their opening clash in Dambulla on July 19. The Women in Blue will also play against UAE and Nepal in their group-stage games on July 21 and 23, respectively. The two semifinals and the final will be held at the same venue on July 26 and 28, respectively.