IND-W vs SA-W: 3rd T20I – Talking points from India’s sterling effort

India ended their tussle against South Africa on a high with a crushing win in the third and final T20I of the series. The visitors had already won the series and with this victory, India managed to pull things back a bit. After opting to bowl first, they restricted South Africa to just 112/7 and then chased it down in a jiffy thanks to Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma who got the team off to a scintillating start.

Here are some of the talking points:

3. Rajeshwari Gayakwad’s spell

Rajeshwari Gayakwad had bowled superbly in the third ODI against the same opposition but it came in a losing cause. However, in this game, she was at her best again and never let the batters get away. She picked wickets of Lizelle Lee, Anne Bosch and Nadine de Klerk to end with the figures of 3/9 while also bowling a maiden during her four-over spell.

2. Disciplined bowling from India

Gayakwad didn’t get any support during the third ODI to back up her exceptional spell. But this time around, the other Indian bowlers didn’t make that mistake. The likes of Simran, Reddy, Radha Yadav and Deepti Sharma all picked up a wicket each and bowled tightly. This led to South Africa never looking comfortable in the middle.

1. Shafali Verma’s exceptional 60 off 30

Fifty up for @TheShafaliVerma and she reaches the mark off just 26 balls!

The No.1 @MRFWorldwide ICC Women’s T20I batter ?#INDvSA | https://t.co/Ph44kVOWMf pic.twitter.com/MnSBsw7pby

— ICC (@ICC) March 23, 2021

Shafali Verma is known for her swashbuckling batting and this is what she did in the third T20I. With only 113 to chase, she took the attack to Shabnim Ismail, the opposition’s best bowler to smack a 26-ball fifty. She continued batting in the same vein even after the powerplay ended to add 96 runs in only 8.1 overs with her opening partner Smriti Mandhana. Shafali was dismissed by Shangase but not before she scored 60 off 30 balls with 7 fours and five sixes.