Mandhana's graceful 90 leads India to 6-wicket win over SA

Smriti Mandhana waltzed to a characteristically elegant 90 to form the crux of India’s six-wicket win in the third and final women’s ODI against South Africa, marking their 3-0 series clean sweep here on Sunday.

• TEAM SWEEPS ODI SERIES

Mandhana, whose innings came off 83 balls (11x4), had efficient support casts in Shafali Verma (25), Priya Punia (28) and Harmanpreet Kaur (42, 48b, 2x4) as India went past the target of 216 without exerting themselves much.

The hosts made 220 for four in 40.4 overs, after South Africa were restricted to an underwhelming 215 for eight despite skipper Laura Wolvaardt’s solid 61 (57b, 7x4).

Though she failed to make a third hundred on the bounce, the knock underlined the way Mandhana dominated this ODI series, scoring 343 runs at an average of 114.33.

The 27-year-old was once again composed in the middle, and played some typically graceful shots around the Chinnaswamy stadium.