Wolvaardt's rapid ton condemns India to series defeat

The third T20I between South Africa and India followed a familiar script. India batted first and set a target, which South Africa chased down with ease. This time, India posted an imposing 192/4, but the home side effortlessly chased it with 21 balls to spare, led by skipper Laura Wolvaardt's majestic century.

After the surface was under covers pre-game, Wolvaardt chose to bowl first. Smriti Mandhana eased any early concerns by hitting the first ball for a boundary. Shafali Verma also started with boundaries, including a slog-sweep. The openers put on 51 in the Powerplay before losing Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues off successive deliveries.

Shafali, after slowing down, accelerated to a half-century. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur settled quickly at the other end and was well-set heading into the death overs. Despite losing Shafali at a crucial stage, Harmanpreet found regular boundaries and 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 push India past 190.

South Africa's response was immediate, racing to 26/0 after just two overs. With Sune Luus a quiet observer, Wolvaardt dominated the Powerplay, hammering boundaries to reach a stunning 23-ball fifty. Luus broke free with a six off Shreyanka Patil, followed by boundaries off Shafali and Deepti Sharma. By the 10th over, South Africa had 115/0, leaving India needing a miracle.

Wolvaardt received a couple of reprieves and capitalized, accelerating from 86 off 43 to 101 off 47. Luus brought up consecutive fifties at the other end. The massive partnership finally broke in the 16th over after South Africa had taken 183 runs off the target. Seven balls later, India were put out of their misery. The visitors have two more games to salvage pride from the tour.

Brief scores: India 192/4 in 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 66, Shafali Varma 64; Nonkululeko Mlaba 2-31) lost to South Africa 193/1 in 16.3 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 115, Sune Luus 64*) by 9 wickets.