South Africa pulled together as a team, better in every department, to cruise past India by seven wickets in the fourth one-day international, and took an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the women’s cricket series at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana stadium on Sunday.
South Africa won the toss for the third time in the series and chased the highest target of 267 with remarkable composure. The top four batswomen shared the burden with half-centuries.
That put into shade the unbeaten 104 of Punam Raut and her century partnership with skipper Mithali Raj (45), who became the first woman in the world to score more 7,000 runs in one-dayers.
India took the field without strike bowler Jhulan Goswami, and had replaced opener Jemimah Rodrigues with Priya Punia who did well to score 32, after Smriti Mandhana fell early.
When Harmanpreet Kaur smashed 54 off 35 balls to take India to its best total in the series, the team did have a chance despite the amiable batting conditions.
However, Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt ensured the optimistic thoughts of the Indian camp evaporated quickly, with a 116-run partnership.
Balance tilted
What tilted the balance in favour of the visitors was the manner in which left-hander Lara Goodall and ‘player-of’the’match’ Mignon du Preez hammered the bowlers around, with a century partnership.
More than the personal award, du Preez was thrilled that her team beat India in India in a series after 2014. It was the third series win for South Africa against India.
Even though it was Marizanne Kapp who closed out the match with successive boundaries off Radha Yadav, it was Goodall who stamped her authority in the climax, by reverse-sweeping Deepti Sharma for two boundaries in the 48th over.
Scoreboard
INDIA: Priya Punia c Khaka b Shangase 32 (51b, 5x4), Smriti Mandhana c Lee b Shabnim 10 (16b, 2x4), Punam Raut (not out) 104 (123b, 10x4), Mithali Raj c Shabnim b Sekhukhune 45 (71b, 4x4), Harmanpreet Kaur b Sekhukhune 54 (35b, 7x4, 1x6), Deepti Sharma (not out) 8 (4b, 1x4); Extras (lb-1, w-12): 13; Total (for four wkts. in 50 overs): 266.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-17 (Smriti, 4.6 overs), 2-61 (Priya, 15.1), 3-164 (Mithali, 37.1), 4-252 (Harmanpreet, 47.6).
SOUTH AFRICA BOWLING: Shabnim 10-0-50-1, Kapp 10-0-58-0, Khaka 7-0-26-0, Sekhukhune 8-0-63-2, Shangase 10-1-41-1, Bosch 5-0-27-0.
SOUTH AFRICA: Lizelle Lee lbw b Harmanpreet 69 (75b, 10x4), Laura Wolvaardt c Sushma b Mansi 53 (78b, 6x4), Lara Goodall (not out) 59 (66b, 5x4), Mignon du Preez c Harmanpreet b Rajeshwari 61 (55b, 8x4, 1x6), Marizanne Kapp (not out) 22 (18b, 3x4); Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-3): 5; Total (for three wkts. in 48.4 overs): 269.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-116 (Lee, 22.6), 2-133 (Wolvaardt, 28.4), 3-236 (du Preez, 44.2).
INDIA BOWLING: Mansi 7-0-43-1, Rajeshwari 9-1-39-1, Radha 9.4-0-68-0, Deepti 9-0-43-0, Poonam 7-0-36-0, Harmanpreet 7-0-38-1.
Toss: South Africa; Player-of-the-match: Mignon du Preez.
South Africa won by seven wickets with eight balls to spare and took an unassailable 3-1 lead in five-match series.
Fifth and final ODI: March 17, 9 a.m.
