Pooja Vastrakar career-best, Radha Yadav’s three-fer blows South Africa away before the Indian openers make light work of the run chase in a series-leveling victory
The South African batting unit fired once again, after the Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to field first in the 2nd T20I of the series. South Africa posted a competitive total of 177/6 in their quota of overs. However, persistent showers ensured that there was no further play possible and the 2nd T20I was eventually abandoned without the Indian batters having a go at the target.
The washed out 2nd game of the series pushed the home side into a must-win situation to save the T20I series. Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to field first in a must-win game for India in the 3rd T20I. Both the sides stuck to the same playing 11 for the final game of the series.
After being inserted to bat first, South African openers Tazmin Brits and skipper Laura Wolvaart got off to a steady start. Shreyanka Patil picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Laura Wolvaardt to provide the first breakthrough for India. Marizanne Kapp soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 2nd breakthrough for India. Anneke Bosch joined Tazmin Brits at the crease and the duo stitched a 15-run partnership for the 3rd wicket.
Deepti Sharma picked up the wicket of Tazmin Brits to provide the 3rd breakthrough for her side. Chloe Tryon joined Anneke Bosch at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 16-run partnership for the 4th wicket before Pooja Vastrakar came back and struck twice to remove Anneke Bosch and Nadine de Klerk in the 11th over of the innings. South Africa suffered a horrible collapse as they lost their last five wickets for just 23 runs. As a result, South Africa were bundled out for just 84 runs with 17 balls to spare.
Tazmin Brits (20 off 23 balls), Anneke Bosch (17 off 14 balls), and Marizanne Kapp (10 off 8 balls) were the top performers with the bat for South Africa. Pooja Vastrakar (3.1-0-13-4), Radha Yadav (3-1-6-3), Arundhati Reddy (3-0-14-1), Shreyanka Patil (3-0-19-1), and Deepti Sharma (4-0-21-1) were the top performers with the ball for India.
Chasing a target of 85, the Indian openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana cruised through the run chase with 10 wickets in hand and 55 balls to spare. Smriti Mandhana (54 off 40 balls) notched up her 24th half-century in the T20I format, alongside Shafali Verma (27 off 25 balls) were the top performers with the bat for India. Marizanne Kapp (2-0-3-0), and Chloe Tryon (2-0-8-0) were the top performers with the ball for South Africa.
Pooja Vastrakar was awarded the Player of the Match for her exceptional, match-winning performance (3.1-0-13-4) with the ball. She played a crucial role in helping the women in blue level the three-match T20I series (1-1) and as a result, the T20I series will be shared between both these teams. Pooja Vastrakar was also awarded the Player of the Series as she ended as the leading wicket-taker of the series with eight wickets at a strike rate of 8.37, an average of 9.12 and an economy 6.53 in three innings to her name.