Arundhati Reddy and Co triggered a first-innings collapse from which South Africa couldn’t recover. India’s score of 220 for 4 (Mandhana 90, Harmanpreet 42) surpassed South Africa’s 215 for 8 (Wolvaardt 61, Reddy 2-36, Deepti 2-27) by six wickets.
A masterclass from Smriti Mandhana, combined with Arundhati Reddy’s sharp bowling, led India to a six-wicket victory over South Africa in the third and final ODI, securing a 3-0 series sweep in Bengaluru.
Playing in front of 15,000 fans at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, crowd favorite Mandhana spearheaded India’s chase of 216, narrowly missing out on a century with a brilliant 90 off 83 balls. She ended the series with 343 runs, the highest total in a three-match women’s series, surpassing Laura Wolvaardt’s 335 against Sri Lanka in April 2024.
Mandhana put on 61-run and 62-run partnerships with Shafali Verma (25) and Priya Punia (28), India’s new No. 3, to set the foundation for the chase. Seven of her 11 fours came on the offside, with six directed towards the cover region. Alongside Harmanpreet Kaur (42 off 48), she shared a quick 48 off 47 balls, neutralizing the South African attack.
Mandhana has shown immense maturity and adaptability across different pitches and situations, playing long innings in all three games. However, her knock ended with a top edge to Ayabonga Khaka at short fine leg in the 31st over. At that point, India needed just 45 runs from the remaining 19 overs, which the rest of the batters achieved with 9.2 overs to spare.
South Africa struggled without a sixth bowling option, as Marizanne Kapp played solely as a specialist batter due to workload management after recovering from a back injury. Their premier spin-bowling allrounder, Chloe Tryon, missed the tour due to a recurring back injury. Despite Wolvaardt previously acknowledging this issue, South Africa replaced Masabata Klaas with another right-arm bowler, Tumi Sukhukhune. A few moments of individual brilliance aside, South Africa failed to perform cohesively throughout the series.
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