Smriti Mandhana's Graceful 90 Leads India Women To 6-Wicket Win Over South Africa, ODI Series Sweep

Smriti Mandhana waltzed to a characteristically elegant 90 to form the crux of India's six-wicket win in the third and final women's ODI against South Africa, marking their 3-0 series clean sweep in Bengaluru on Sunday. Mandhana, whose innings came off 83 balls (11x4), had efficient support casts in Shafali Verma (25), Priya Punia (28) and Harmanpreet Kaur (42, 48b, 2x4) as India went past the target of 216 without exerting themselves much. The hosts made 220 for four in 40.4 overs, after South Africa were restricted to an underwhelming 215 for eight despite skipper Laura Wolvaardt's solid 61 (57b, 7x4).

Though she failed to make a third hundred on the bounce, the knock underlined the way Mandhana dominated this ODI series, scoring 343 runs at an average of 114.33.

The 27-year-old was once again composed in the middle, and played some typically graceful shots around the Chinnaswamy stadium.

The pitch was smoothened out during the chase and the SA bowling was anything but threatening, giving the Indian vice-captain ample time to pursue her game without an iota of pressure.

On view were those trademark shots that make her batting a sight for the sore eyes - swivel pulls, cover drives, straight drives and those late taps that touch the rope after teasing the third man fielder.

However, Mandhana's batting partners too deserved a pat on their backs for producing little yet polished knocks.

Shafali helped her make 61 runs in 11.5 overs for the opening wicket, while Priya, who is playing an ODI for the first time since 2019, assisted her in amassing 62 runs in 66 balls for the second wicket.

Skipper Harmanpreet was fluent during the unbeaten third wicket stand that was worth 54 runs.

But the vociferous, highly-partisan crowd