Lee, Wolvaardt star as SA W register first T20I series win over IND W

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 21 (ANI): Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt played knocks of 70 and 53 respectively as South Africa defeated India by six wickets in the second T20I of the three-match series on Sunday here at the Ekana Cricket Ground.
With this win, the Proteas have sealed the three-match series after gaining a 2-0 unassailable lead. Both teams will now lock horns in the third and final T20I on Tuesday. This is the first time that South Africa has managed to win a T20I series against India.
Chasing 159, Proteas did not get off to an ideal start as the side lost its match-winner from the first game pretty early on. Anne Bosch (2) ended up losing her wicket to Rajeshwari Gayakwad in just the second over of the innings. Skipper Sune Luus then joined Lizelle Lee in the middle and the duo revived the innings for the visitors.
Both batters put on 58 runs for the second wicket, but as soon as the Proteas started to gain an upper hand, Deepti Sharma's brilliance in the field brought about a run-out and skipper Luus (20) was sent back to the pavilion, reducing visitors to 66/2 in the 10th over.
However, Lee continued to march on and she brought up her half-century. But with 43 runs still away from the target, Proteas lost the key wicket of Lee (70) in the 16th over of the innings as she was sent back to the pavilion by Radha Yadav.
In the end, Wolvaardt (53*) showed her class in the final four overs and Proteas got over the line by six wickets. Nine runs were needed in the final over and Arundhati Reddy was doing a fine job but on the penultimate ball, she ended up bowling a no-ball, and from there, Proteas gained a victory.
Earlier, Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosha played knocks of 47 and 44 respectively as India posted a total of 158/4 in the allotted twenty overs. Asked to bat first, the hosts got off to a bad start as skipper Smriti Mandhana (7) ended up losing her wicket in the second over of the innings.
Harleen Deol then joined Shafali in the middle and the latter took the honours upon herself and she played some big shots to keep India afloat. Her innings helped India to have a healthy run-rate and she along with Harleen put up a 79-run stand for the second wicket.
But in looking for a big shot, Shafali (47) ended up being clean-bowled by Nonkululeko Mlaba in the 11th over of the innings, reducing India to 87/2. Soon after Harleen Deol (31) was also sent back to the pavilion by Anne Bosch. In the final overs, Richa Ghosh played a quickfire knock of 40 runs off just 26 balls as India posted a total of more than the 150-run mark.
Brief Scores: India Women 158/4 (Shafali Verma 47, Richa Ghosh 44*, Shabnim Ismail 1-31); South Africa Women 159/4 (Lizelle Lee 70, Laura Wolvaardt 53*, Radha Yadav 1-25). (ANI)