Smriti Mandhana scored a sensational century (135) and helped India score 302 for 3 in their allotted 50 overs in the second ODI of the three-match series at Diamond Oval, Kimberley, on Wednesday.
After thrashing the Proteas in the first ODI by 88 runs, Mithali Raj and her girls were high on confidence and propelled by Mandhana’s ton, which included 14 boundaries and one six, they managed to set a daunting target (303 to win) before the South Africans.
Earlier after winning the toss, South African skipper Dane van Niekerk opted to bowl first. The hosts somehow managed to succeed in their plan, as they managed to take opener Punam Raut’s wicket (20 runs off 37 balls) early.
Following Raut’s dismissal, skipper Mithai Raj took the charge of Indian innings along with Mandhana. But even Mithali was not able to add much to India’s scoreboard as the captain gifted her wicket to Sune Luus for 20 runs.
After two early wickets, vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur stabilised the Indian innings with Mandhana and added 134 runs for the third wicket.
However, Raisibe Ntozakhe broke their partnership by sending Mandhana back to the pavilion. After Mandhana’s departure, Veda Krisnamurti joined Kaur at the crease.
Meanwhile, Harmanpreet Kaur (55) and Veda Krisnamurti completed their half-century.
From South African camp Sune Luus, Masabata Klaas and Raisibe Ntozakhe took one wicket each.
Fall of wickets:
56-1 (Punam Raut, 12.3), 107-2 (Mithali Raj, 23.4), 241-3 (Smriti Mandhana, 43.2)
India Women Playing XI: Punam Raut, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Mithali Raj (c), Sushma Verma (wk), Shikha Pandey, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav
South Africa Women Playing XI: Dane van Niekerk (c), Laura Wolvaardt, Lizelle Lee, Marizanne Kapp, Sune Luus, Chloe Tryon, Masabata Klaas, Ayabonga Khaka, Trisha Chetty (wk), Raisibe Ntozakhe, Andrie Steyn