Wolvaardt punishes India again; South Africa take series 4-1

Laura Wolvaardt smashed an undefeated 56-ball 92 in the final T20I to power South Africa to a 4-1 series victory over India. India rested vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, Shreyanka Patil and Kashvee Gautam for the dead-rubber.

South Africa Innings: On a sluggish Benoni surface, Wolvaardt set the tone after being put in to bat. South Africa reached 49/0 in 6 overs, with Wolvaardt scoring 44 of those. She raced to a 30-ball half-century in the ninth over. Sune Luus enjoyed multiple reprieves as India were sloppy in the field. Shree Charani broke the opening stand with Luus' wicket, then removed Tazmin Brits in the 11th. Deepti Sharma dismissed Annerie Dercksen and Anneka Bosch. Renuka Singh bowled a double-wicket 18th over, but Sinalo Jafta and Wolvaardt plundered 29 off the last two overs, including Wolvaardt finishing with two sixes, to take the side past 150.

India Innings: India lost Shafali Varma in the third over and Jemimah Rodrigues in the fourth. Harmanpreet Kaur and Anushka Sharma rebuilt slowly with a 17-run stand off 24 balls before Nadine de Klerk struck in the eighth over. Bharti Fulmali injected urgency, but Nonkululeko Mlaba dismissed Harmanpreet in the 13th over. Richa Ghosh pushed the scoring with a 15-ball 25*, but Fulmali's exit in the 16th triggered a collapse from 99/5 to 119/8. India fell 23 runs short.

Brief Scores: South Africa Women 155/6 in 20 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 92; Renuka Singh Thakur 2-21, Shree Charani 2-22) beat India Women 132/8 in 20 overs (Bharti Fulmali 40; Nonkululeko Mlaba 2-15, Nadine de Klerk 2-26) by 23 runs