Punam Raut's century in vain as South Africa crush India by 7 wickets

A magnificent batting effort from South Africa women helped them beat India women by 7 wickets. Chasing 267, South African batsmen looked in complete control and cruised to a victory with just 3 wickets down and 8 balls to spare. Lizelle Lee, Laura Wolvaardt, Mignon du Preez and Laura Goodall scored half centuries for their team. 

Earlier, South Africa women won the toss and put Indian women in to bat. The hosts were jolted by an early blow as Smriti Mandhana departed for 10 with just 17 runs on the board. Priya Punia, who replaced Jemimah Rodrigues in the squad, and Punam Raut then stitched a 44 run partnership for the second wicket before Punia fell for a well made 32. Raut continued her stellar form and added 103 runs with Mithali Raj(45) and 88 runs with Harmanpreet Kaur (54), reaching his third century in the process. It was because of the blistering knock from Harmanpreet Kaur who helped India women past the 250 run mark. 

While the batting performed fairly decently, Indian bowlers looked completely off colour. With this win, South Africa has taken an unassailable 3-1 lead in the 5 match series. The teams will meet in the final ODI on Tuesday. South defeated India by 8 wickets in the first game before India bounced back with a crushing 9 wicket win in the second ODI. South Africa again dominated the hosts in the 3rd match, taking a 2-1 lead in the series.