Wolvaardt's rapid ton condemns India to series defeat

The third T20I between South Africa and India followed a familiar script in the series. India batted first and set their opponents a target. South Africa hunted it down with ease. This time, unlike the first two games, India actually managed to post an imposing 192/4 on the board. Yet, the home side didn't stutter, effortlessly chasing down the target with 21 balls to spare following skipper Laura Wolvaardt's majestic ton.

With the surface under covers leading up to the game, Wolvaardt had no hesitation bowling first again. But Smriti Mandhana allayed any fears of a watchful start by smashing the very first ball of the contest for a boundary. Shafali Verma got going in her innings with a couple of boundaries in the next over before nailing the slogsweep. The openers made 51 in the Powerplay before a double strike saw them lose Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues off successive deliveries.

Shafali, who had slowed by then, began to accelerate again to bring up an impressive half-century. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur took little time to get going at the other end and was already well set heading into the death overs. Even though India lost Shafali at a crucial phase, Harmanpreet found the boundary at regular intervals and even reached fifty. Richa Ghosh hit a four and a six in the penultimate over and Harmanpreet cleared the ropes twice in the final over to power India past the 190-run mark. But the visitors realised very quick that they were up against it when South Africa raced to 26/0 after just the second over.

With Sune Luus pretty much being a mute spectator, it was the Laura Wolvaardt show in the Powerplay as she made merry by hammering plenty of boundaries. Inside the first six overs, the South African skipper slammed nine fours and two sixes to bring up a stunning 23-ball fifty. Luus finally broke free with a six off Shreyanka Patil and then followed it up with boundaries off Shafali and Deepti Sharma. In the first 10 overs, South Africa had 115 on the board with all ten wickets intact. India needed a miracle to claw back but Wolvaardt and Luus let loose to ensure there was no way back.

Wolvaardt receiving a couple of reprieves didn't help India's cause either as she made them pay by going from 86 off 43 to 101 off 47, wrecking the visitors. Luus at the other end brought up consecutive fifties. The massive partnership finally broke in the 16th over after South Africa had wiped out 183 runs from the target. Seven balls later, India were put out of their misery. The visitors still have two more games left to salvage some pride from this tour.