Published 21:38 IST, October 14th 2019
Ind vs SA: India seal 3-0 whitewash in Raj's 100th ODI win as captain
India Women clinched the series vs South Africa 3-0 in a nail-biting finish as Mithali Raj became the second women's captain to win 100 ODIs in her career.
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India Women completed a 3-0 whitewash over their South African counterparts after winning the third and final ODI by 6 runs. In a low scoring match, Ekta Bisht starred with figures of 3/32 in her quota of 10 overs as India Women defended their score of 146, by bowling out South Africa Women for 140. This is a historic win as India's captain Mithali Raj won her 100th ODI match as captain, becoming only the second women's cricketer after England's Charlotte Edwards to do so.
Ind vs SA: Batting Woes
Earlier in the day, India Women won the toss and elected to bat. The home side got off to the worst possible start after both openers were sent back to the pavilion with just 5 runs on the board. India kept losing wickets at regular intervals and stuttered to 71/6 with HarmanpreetKaur holding one end of the wicket. Harmanpreet cautiously soaked in the pressure and along with Shikha Pandey, put together a partnership that took India to a respectable total. Marizanne Kapp starred for the South Africa Women, picking up 3/20 in her 9-over spell.
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Ind vs SA: Bowlers Deliver
With South Africa needing only 147 to win, it seemed like Mithali Raj would have to wait for her 100th win. But Ekta Bisht, along with Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad, choked the South African batters for runs and made it difficult for them to score runs. A lot of the visitors' batters got starts, but the Indian bowlers made sure they could not convert it into match-winning knocks. Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodrigues picked up the final two wickets to complete the whitewash and stamp India's authority as one of the most exciting teams in women’s cricket at present.
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Ind vs SA: Record-breaker Raj
Mithali Raj, who has completed 20 years in international cricket as well, becoming the second cricketer after Charlotte Edwards to complete the feat. Raj, who holds the record for most runs in Women’s ODIs, retired from T20Is earlier this year to prolong her ODI career. The 36-year old would hope that her team continues to excel and deliver on the promise they’ve shown.
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19:20 IST, October 14th 2019