India’s batting crumbled in a steep chase as South Africa beat the hosts by a huge 105 runs in the sixth and final T20 International, even as India clinched the series in Surat on Friday.
India won the revised six-match series 3-1 with an additional game being played to compensate for the two games being abandoned due to rain.
Electing to bat first, South Africa went on a rampage scoring 175/3, riding on the batting heroics of openers Lizelle Lee (84 off 47 balls, 15x4s, 1x6) and Sune Luus (62 off 56 balls, 7x4s). The duo put on a solid 144-run stand for the opening wicket that came off 95 balls to set the tone for the challenging score.
None of the Indian bowlers were able to trouble the South African batters with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (1/5), Arundhati Reddy (1/28) and Poonam Yadav (1/34) sharing the three wickets among them.
Chasing 176 for a win, India never got going as South Africa produced a lethal bowling effort to reduce the hosts to 13/6 after 6.2 overs.
Veda Krishnamurthy (26) and Reddy (22) showed some fightback, stitching 49 runs for the seventh wicket but once the duo departed, it was all over. India crumbled against the South African bowling attack as they were bowled out for 70 in 17.3 overs.
For South Africa, Nadine de Klerk (3/18) was the most successful bowler. She was ably supported by Nondumiso Shangase (2/0), Shabnim Ismail (2/11) and Anne Bosch (2/13).
The focus will now shift to the three-match ODI series between the two sides with the first game scheduled to be held in Vadodara on October 9.