Pooja Vastrakar struck twice in the final over of the match and outfoxed an in-form Laura Wolvaardt with a slower ball as India beat a resurgent South Africa by four runs in the second One-Day International match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.

The win helped the Harmanpreet Kaur led side to a take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series in Bengaluru.

Asked to chase a whopping 326 to win after opting to bowl first, South Africa rode on the back of stunning centuries from captain Wolvaardt (135*) and Marizanne Kapp (114) to give India a scare before finishing with 321/6.

Having joined hands with the visitors struggling at 67/3, Wolvaardt and Kapp stitched a 184-run stand in 170 deliveries for the fourth wicket, before the latter was dismissed by Deepti Sharma in the 43rd over, thanks to a well-judged catch by Vastrakar inches away from the boundary rope.

The end of Kapp’s 94-ball stay with 11 boundaries and three sixes bought India back into the contest and they closed off the match despite a vital 69-run stand between Wolvaardt and Nadine de Klerk (28), who was Vastrakar’s first wicket in the final over.

Wolvaardt, who was the more cautious of the two centurions during the chase, took 119 balls to bring up her century, but soon opened up her arms to keep South Africa in the hunt before she swung and missed the final ball of the match with five runs required.

Earlier in the day, Smriti Mandhana’s elegant seventh century and skipper Kaur’s aggressive hundred propelled India to a commanding 325/3 against South Africa.

Mandhana became the first Indian female batter to score consecutive hundreds in ODIs. She’s also the joint highest centurion (7) with Mithali Raj now.

Mandhana’s innings of 136 from 120 deliveries and Kaur’s unbeaten 103 off 88 balls (nine fours, three sixes) featured a blazing partnership of 171 runs for the third-wicket.

This partnership came after South Africa had initially troubled the Indian openers in the powerplay with Ayabonga Khaka and Masabata Klaas finding early movement and bounce.

Despite a cautious start where boundaries were scarce, Mandhana and Verma (20) began to accelerate before the latter fell to Noku Mlaba.

A steadying phase followed as Mandhana and Dayalan Hemalatha built a foundation, with Hemalatha contributing 24 runs before her dismissal.

Kaur’s arrival shifted the momentum in India’s favor as she raised the run rate from around four to over six runs per over, with Mandhana also launching a flurry of boundaries to move through the 90s.

The Indian captain, who was dropped early in her innings, capitalized on the reprieve to punish the South African bowlers further.

South Africa attempted to restrict Mandhana by bowling wide outside her off-stump, but their execution faltered, allowing her to collect boundaries effortlessly.

India’s late assault yielded 118 runs in the last 10 overs, exploiting South Africa’s lapses in bowling and fielding as even Richa Ghosh chimed in with an unbeaten 13-ball 25.