The third T20I between South Africa and India kept the series’ familiar rhythm, but this match delivered a rare twist: India built a sizeable total, only for South Africa to chase it down in ruthless fashion. After rain-prone conditions led to the pitch being covered ahead of the game, Laura Wolvaardt was again trusted with the ball. India then made the most of their batting powerplay before South Africa’s openers took control immediately in reply. The end result was a comfortable chase for the hosts, who reached the target with 21 balls left and won by nine wickets.
South Africa vs India: what happened in the match
- Wolvaardt, captaining South Africa, decided to field first after the surface was kept under covers before the toss.
- Smriti Mandhana set the tone for India by striking the very first delivery for a boundary.
- Shafali Verma struck boundaries early as well, including a successful slog-sweep as her innings began to gather momentum.
- India’s opening stand accumulated 51 runs in the Powerplay, but the momentum was dented by a double blow in quick succession, with Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues dismissed off consecutive balls.
- With Shafali briefly slowing after those wickets, Harmanpreet Kaur’s end of the innings became steadier heading into the later phase.
- Shafali regrouped to reach a strong half-century, but India lost her at a crucial stage, even as Harmanpreet continued finding boundaries regularly.
- Harmanpreet carried on with confidence to complete a fifty, while Richa Ghosh added impact by striking a four and a six in the penultimate over.
- In the final over, Harmanpreet struck twice over the ropes to lift India past the 190-run mark, finishing on 192/4 in their 20 overs.
- South Africa began their chase aggressively, racing to 26/0 by the end of the second over, immediately making India’s work difficult.
- Despite Sune Luus not being as dominant at first, the Powerplay belonged to Wolvaardt, who piled on boundaries to take control of the chase.
- Inside the first six overs, Wolvaardt struck nine fours and two sixes, reaching a remarkable 23-ball fifty.
- Luus finally joined in decisively, hitting a six off Shreyanka Patil and then following it up with boundaries off Shafali and Deepti Sharma.
- By the 10-over mark, South Africa had 115 on the board with all ten wickets intact, putting the visitors under immense pressure.
- India’s bowlers struggled to manufacture a turnaround as Wolvaardt capitalised on reprieves, moving from 86 off 43 to 101 off 47 and effectively breaking the match’s tension.
- At the other end, Luus also built momentum with consecutive fifty milestones, keeping the chase safe and accelerating whenever possible.
- The major partnership finally came to an end in the 16th over, after South Africa had already erased 183 runs from the target.
- Seven balls later, India’s resistance was finally ended, with South Africa winning in 16.3 overs.
With the chase completed in 16.3 overs, South Africa confirmed their dominance despite India managing their best batting output of the series. India still have two further matches to play on the tour, but the third game will be remembered for Wolvaardt’s chase-making century and the way South Africa seized the contest from the outset.
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.
