Surat, Oct 3:
Indian women’s team produced another authoritative performance to comfortably defeat South Africa by five wickets in the fifth T20 International, taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in the six-match series.
With two games being completely washed out, the series was extended from five to six matches and India needed to win on the day to seal the series.
Off-spinner Deepti Sharma (2 for 19) and left-arm spinnner Radha Yadav (3/23 in 4 overs) bowled brilliantly to restrict the Proteas women to 98 for 8. They got able support from leg-spinner Poonam Yadav, who gave away only 15 runs in her 4 overs and got a wicket.
The chase was an easy one and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (34 not out off 32 balls) was in her element as the Women In Blue won 17.1 overs.
Harmanpreet’s innings had four boundaries and added crucial 50 runs for the fourth wicket with Deepti (16).
The Indian captain finished the match with an exquisite drive off seamer Ayabonga Khaka to finish the proceedings and also completed 2000 runs in the shortest format.
“I am very happy with the performance of our team, especially the spinners. They read the pitch very well and bowled accordingly. The primary reason for playing more spinners is because of the nature of the wicket. On personal front, I am happy to have scored runs,” Harmanpreet said after winning ‘Player of Match’ award.
Earlier Deepti kept a tight leash upfront while Radha and Poonam put the brakes in the middle overs to set the platform for the batters.
South Africa couldn’t wriggle out of the spin web as none of their batswomen built on their starts, losing wickets in regular interval. (PTI)
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