South African Women’s cricket team got the better of India for the second time in the series on Friday. In third ODI clash, South Africa won the match by six runs via Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method due to bad weather at the end of the game. Courtesy of this victory, South Africa take 2-1 lead in five match series.
Another phenomenal knock by the opener Lizelle Lee helped South Africa to mount a strong chase. She single handedly scored more than half the runs for her side. Her career best knock of 132 runs in 131 deliveries included 16 boundaries and two maximums.
The team heavily depended on the in-form opener, whose wicket could have definitely been a turning point in the match. Mignon du Preez assisted Lee by contributing 37 runs to the winning side, making a total of 223 at the expense of four wickets.
The Indian bowling side was ineffective in stopping the South African team. Jhulan Goswami alone made an impact by taking 2 wickets for 20 runs in 9 overs, but all the efforts were in vain. The South Africans were just 25 runs short with 27 balls remaining when the game stopped.
The 21-year-old skipper Laura Wolvaardt won the toss and decided to field first. South Africa, unlike India, had the perfect start to the game by sending Jemimah Rodrigues back to the Pavilion in the first over of the game.
Though India bat decently, with Punam Raut’s 77 playing an important role in giving support to the Indian total, and Haramanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma and Mithali Raj contributing 36 runs each, they posted an underpar score of 248 runs.
India will be looking to get back in the series when the two teams meet again on Sunday at the same venue. A victory on Sunday will make sure that South Africa clinch the ODI series. The two teams will also face each other in three T-20 games after ODI series.