- Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur makes an unbeaten 34 and played a sheet anchor role as India beat South Africa by five wickets in the fifth T20I.
- India win by five wickets.
- Pooja Vastrakar smacks a boundary and the crowd is delighted as India is on the verge of going 3-0 up in the series.
- WICKET - Veda Krishnamurthy departs with India needing just 9 runs off 24 deliveries.
- Veda Krishnamurthy joins skipper Harmanpreet.
- WICKET - Deepti Sharma perishes but she has played her part. Shabnim Ismail takes a fine return catch but the wicket might have just come a tad late for South Africa.
- Deepti and Harmanpreet bring up the 50-run partnership and from here on, India should canter home.
- FOUR - Runs have started to flow and this time Deepti Sharma plays upppishly and clears the deep mid-wicket boundary. India Women needs 32 in 50 balls.
- Good call by the management to send Deepti as the left-right combination will unsettle the bowlers and after the double blow, although India has slowed down the pace, both batswomen have shown good composure.
- Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur needs to drop anchor and giving her company is Deepti Sharma. This will be a vital partnership for the Indians.
- WICKET - South Africa is staging a comeback and Sune Luus with an excellent return catch packs off Jemimah Rodrigues. India in a spot of bother. India Women needs 70 runs in 82 balls.
- WICKET - Smriti Mandhana's poor run in this tournament continues as she departs for 7 off 15 deliveries. She was struggling for timing and departed while trying to break away from the shackles.
Our correspondent P.K. Ajith Kumar updates from Surat
Mandhana and Rodrigues have eased some nerves and instead of just banking on the big hits, the duo has rotated strike by taking quick singles. Not a big score to chase but India needs a partnership.
Jemimah Rodrigues is the new batswoman and she gets off the mark with a boundary.
WICKET - There's the wicket and a careless Shafali Verma throws away her wicket. She was in a hurry and this time slashes hard, gets an outside edge and the wicket-keeper takes a safe catch. India Women 14/1 in chase of 99.
Shafali Verma seems to be in a hurry as although she has given India a start, she is living dangerously. Smriti Mandhana is yet to open her account.
Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma are out there in the middle and the run chase is underway.
Should be an easy run chase for the India, given the form its batswomen are there. However, they need to adjust to the slowness of the surface and a good start will make the chase easier.
Excellent effort from the Indian bowlers to restrict South Africa Women to 98/8. While Radha Yadav picked three wickets, Deepti Sharma took two and narrowly missed a hat-trick. Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur picked a wicket each.
Two back-to-back wickets and the Indians have the upper hand going into the last two overs.
WICKET - Shikha Pandey strikes and half the team is back in the hut. Surely, the South Africans are caught by the slowness of the pitch as Shikha bowlers a slower one, Mignon du Preez goes for a heave, gets a top edge and Deepti Sharma settles under it at covers.
Shikha Pandey back into the attack.
WICKET - Radha Yadav picks her second wicket and it's the Indian spinners who have sucked out the momentum from the visiting side. Nadine de Klerk dances down the track but fails to get the distance as Deepti Sharma takes a safe catch at long-on.
WICKET - The South Africans are either throwing their wickets away or have been completely caught unaware with the slowness of the wicket. Harmanpreet Kaur castles Laura Wolvaardt and the eves have been successful in making regular breakthroughs.
At the end of 10 overs, South Africa Women are 47/2. The track is assisting spin and the Indian spinners are bowling a tight line and are keeping the batswomen guessing.
WICKET - After Radha Yadav removed the Proteas skipper, Poonam Yadav provides the second breakthrough by dismissing opener Lizelle Lee.
WICKET - Radha Yadav finds the breakthrough as she traps Sune Luss right in front. Luss was looking a bit rusty and paid the price of playing the sweep as she fails to connect. South Africa Women: 23/1
Toss update: India has won the toss for the first time in the series and will, for the first time, bat first.
Our correspondent P.K. Ajith Kumar updates from Surat: Good evening from Surat, where the big crowd is chanting ‘India and India’ as some of the ladies in blue make their way out to the field at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium for the penultimate match in the series against South Africa.
The captain, Harmanpreet, obviously wants to find out how her team chases, a task at which its rival failed in both the previous matches. It is surprising though that India decided against testing its bench strength, as it continues to play with the same eleven for the series.
It should be an interesting match. But, when I left my hotel, some half-an-hour from the venue, I had encountered a considerably wet road: there was some steady rain in the evening. Here at the ground, though the weather is perfectly fine, thankfully.
Squads:
South Africa Women: Lizelle Lee(w), Tazmin Brits, Laura Wolvaardt, Nadine de Klerk, Sune Luus(c), Lara Goodall, Nondumiso Shangase, Anne Bosch, Ayabonga Khaka, Shabnim Ismail, Mignon du Preez, Sinalo Jafta, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nonkululeko Mlaba
India Women : Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Veda Krishnamurthy, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia(w), Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Anuja Patil, Mansi Joshi, Pooja Vastrakar, Harleen Deol
Where to watch?
The match will be telecast live on on Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 3 HD . It will also be live streamed on Hotstar .
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