India will look for a clean sweep while South Africa for an important win on the road to next year’s World Cup when the two meet in the third and final ODI of the series at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.
India may have edged out the visitors by four runs in the last match to pocket the series, but South Africa, coming within a whisker of chasing a world-record 326-run target, proved it was no laggard. India can ill-afford to drop its guard if it wishes for a spotless record.
While Smriti Mandhana notched up her second century on the bounce and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur returned to form with a hundred, there is a big question mark over opener Shafali Verma’s 50-over credentials. Sunday may well be her last chance to prove the critics wrong.
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For South Africa, the game will be crucial to earn ODI World Cup qualification points. In that quest, the performances from skipper Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp in the previous encounter will come as confidence boosters.
After the Proteas’ batting crumbled in the first ODI (122 all out), the pair scored first-rate centuries and made a good fist of chasing down India’s mammoth total. A few more runs from fellow top-order batters Tazmin Brits and Anneke Bosch can make the line-up fully rounded.
There are, however, two sources of intrigue ahead of the series-ender. It remains to be seen if India chooses to rotate its squad to keep the whole lot match-fit, for the caravan will move to Chennai next for the one-off Test and three T20Is.
Then, there is the fickle Bengaluru monsoon weather, which has so far shed its capricious nature and provided perfect conditions for cricket. The holiday crowd will expect more of the same.
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