Match Report: India Women defeat South Africa Women by nine wickets

India Women beat South Africa Women by nine wickets in the third and final T20 International on Tuesday.

India Women managed to restrict the opposition to just 112 runs. Rajeshwari Gayakwad bowled a sensational spell of 3 for 9 and her victims included Lizelle Lee, Anneke Bosch and Nadine de Klerk. Arundhati Reddy, Deepti Sharma, and Radha Yadav also kept their spells nice and tight against a batting side that has been in sharp form during the series.

Shafali Verma, who recently became the number one batter in ICC Women's T20 rankings displayed exactly why there's so much hype surrounding her talent. The 17-year-old scored 60 runs in just 30 deliveries to give India a comfortable advantage during the run-chase. Her innings included 7 fours and as many as 5 sixes. Shafali was supported well by Smriti Mandhana who has looked a bit off-form during the series. She got back to her very best in this final match and remained unbeaten on 48 from 28 balls.

Following Shafali's dismissal in the ninth over, Smriti, along with a contribution of four runs from Harleen Deol, made sure to avoid further slip-ups. In the end, the Women in Blue emerged victorious by a massive margin of nine wickets and with 54 balls left.

Despite winning the final match, the hosts lost the three-match T20 series 1-2.

Brief Scores: South Africa Women: 112 for 7 from 20 overs (Sune Luus 28, Lara Goodall 25 not out; Rajeshwari Gayakwad 3/9). India Women: 114 for 1 in 11 overs (Shafali Verma 60, Smriti Mandhana 48 not out).