<p>Bengaluru: Skipper Laura Wolvaardt made an assured fifty but South Africa suffered a batting meltdown after a strong start to finish with an underwhelming 215 for eight against India in the third and final women’s ODI here on Sunday.</p>.<p>Wolvaardt (61, 57b, 7x4) and Tazmin Brits (38, 66b, 2x4, 1x6) stitched 102 runs off 119 balls for the opening wicket after batting by choice, and SA looked set for a big total that could have given them a chance to register a consolation win.</p>.<p>India have already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.</p>.<p>Both Wolvaardt and Brits were comfortable against Indian bowlers even though there was a hint of varied bounce, which was evident when pacer Pooja Vastrakar beat the defence of Sune Luus (13) with a delivery that stayed close to her ankle.</p>.<p>However, the SA openers found a way to tackle that, as they hardly opted for aerial shots and collected their runs more pragmatically with singles, twos and the occasional power shots.</p>.T20 World Cup 2024 | You got to match aggression with aggression: Kuldeep on instant success in Caribbean.<p>Brits’ six off left-arm spinner Radha Yadav over mid-wicket following a little shimmy down the track was the lone moment of explosion.</p>.<p>At the other end, Wolvaardt maintained a strike-rate over 100 without ever really taking undue risks.</p>.<p>The tourists crossed the 100-run mark in the 18th over but their fortunes turned around when pacer Arundhati Reddy pulled off an excellent return catch to dismiss a set Wolvaardt.</p>.<p>Arundhati later produced an even better caught and bowled effort to jettison Anneke Bosch as India twisted the knife through SA’s batting unit under Arundhati (2/36) and off-spinner Deepti Sharma (2/27), who was hard to score off.</p>.<p>However, South Africa also had their own indiscretions to blame for the downfall.</p>.<p>Brits and Nondumise Shangase (16) charged out for non-existing singles to get run out just when they were looking to upshift the gears.</p>.<p>From a lofty 102 for no loss in 19.5 overs, South Africa lost the next eight wickets for 113 runs as India placed themselves firmly on course for a 3-0 series clean sweep.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Skipper Laura Wolvaardt made an assured fifty but South Africa suffered a batting meltdown after a strong start to finish with an underwhelming 215 for eight against India in the third and final women’s ODI here on Sunday.</p>.<p>Wolvaardt (61, 57b, 7x4) and Tazmin Brits (38, 66b, 2x4, 1x6) stitched 102 runs off 119 balls for the opening wicket after batting by choice, and SA looked set for a big total that could have given them a chance to register a consolation win.</p>.<p>India have already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.</p>.<p>Both Wolvaardt and Brits were comfortable against Indian bowlers even though there was a hint of varied bounce, which was evident when pacer Pooja Vastrakar beat the defence of Sune Luus (13) with a delivery that stayed close to her ankle.</p>.<p>However, the SA openers found a way to tackle that, as they hardly opted for aerial shots and collected their runs more pragmatically with singles, twos and the occasional power shots.</p>.T20 World Cup 2024 | You got to match aggression with aggression: Kuldeep on instant success in Caribbean.<p>Brits’ six off left-arm spinner Radha Yadav over mid-wicket following a little shimmy down the track was the lone moment of explosion.</p>.<p>At the other end, Wolvaardt maintained a strike-rate over 100 without ever really taking undue risks.</p>.<p>The tourists crossed the 100-run mark in the 18th over but their fortunes turned around when pacer Arundhati Reddy pulled off an excellent return catch to dismiss a set Wolvaardt.</p>.<p>Arundhati later produced an even better caught and bowled effort to jettison Anneke Bosch as India twisted the knife through SA’s batting unit under Arundhati (2/36) and off-spinner Deepti Sharma (2/27), who was hard to score off.</p>.<p>However, South Africa also had their own indiscretions to blame for the downfall.</p>.<p>Brits and Nondumise Shangase (16) charged out for non-existing singles to get run out just when they were looking to upshift the gears.</p>.<p>From a lofty 102 for no loss in 19.5 overs, South Africa lost the next eight wickets for 113 runs as India placed themselves firmly on course for a 3-0 series clean sweep.</p>