Smriti Mandhana showed her mettle once again. She scores big when it matters and this time she slammed a quickfire 135 as Indian women’s cricket team beat South Africa by 178 runs in the second ODI to clinch the three-match series in Kimberley.
Putting India into bat, South Africa surprised everyone as it was a good batting rack. Hence the decission backfired as Mandhana started from where she left in the previous match. She attacked the bowlers to score quickly for her team and reached her 135 off just 129 balls. Mandhana hit 14 boundaries and a six en route to her century. She fell in the 44th over when the score read 241. But a sweet half-century from Veda Krishnamurthy took the side over the 300-run mark as India set the hosts 303 to win. Harmanpreet Kaur also scored a half century (55*).
South Africa started their positively with opener Lizelle Lee helding the fortress single-handedly. She scred a 75-ball 73. But none other batter gave enough support to Lizelle and Souh Africa tumbled to 124 in 30.5 overs. India won by a huge margin of 178 runs.
India’s veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami added another feather to her illustrious cap today by becoming the first female cricketer to take 200 ODI wickets when she dismissed opener Laura Wolvaardt. 35-year-old Goswami, playing her 166th ODI, achieved the feat during India’s series victory against South Africa.
