Johannesburg: An unlikely collapse of the Indian women’s team saw them concede the third T20I of the five-match series to South Africa, by five wickets at the Wanderers on Sunday.
After winning the first two matches, Harmanpreet Kaur and her side walked into the third match as the favourites to clinch the series. But, they were pushed to the backfoot when Marizanne Kapp sent back Mithali Raj in the very first over. A 55-run stand between Smriti Mandhana and skipper Kaur did the rebuilding work but Dane Van Niekerk brought back the hosts in the game once again, sending back the former for a well-made 37.
But Kaur’s (48) dismissal in the 12th over triggered the collapse as from being 93/3, they were eventually bowled out for just 133 in 17.5 overs. Veda Krishnamurthy, known for her big-hitting skills made 23 runs but that wasn’t enough to take the team to a challenging total. Shabnim Ismail was the star with the ball for South Africa, as she took five wickets, conceding 30 runs in her 3.5 overs.
The hosts, however didn’t have it easy as Pooja Vastrakar provided the early breakthrough, sending back Lizelle Lee (5) in the third over with just 12 runs on the board. Skipper Niekerk (26) was the next to ball after she was stumped by Taniya Bhatia off Rajeshwari Gayakwad’s bowling.
But a 50-run stand between Mignon Du Preez (20) and Sune Luus (41) calmed the nerves down in the Proteas camp and a quickfire 34 of 15 balls from Chloe Tryon sealed the win for the hosts, who now trail the series 2-1.
Brief scores-
South Africa Women 134/5 in 19.0 overs (Sune Luus 41, Chloe Tyron 34; Pooja Vastrakar 2/21) beat India Women 133 all out in 17.5 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 48, Smriti Mandhana 37; Shabnim Ismail 5/30) by 5 wickets.