Shafali Verma, Poonam Yadav help India seal series win

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After succumbing to a four-ball duck in her maiden international outing at the start of the series, Shafali demonstrated her talent in her second knock for India, reeling off four fours and two sixes to top-score for the hosts.

Alongside Smriti Mandhana she added 52 for the first wicket to give India a solid foundation in what was a 17-overs-a-side battle after the wet weather attempted to hinder the series once again. Shafali was unable to reach a maiden half-century, falling to Tumi Sekhukhune to leave India 65/2 after 8.3 overs.

Harmanpreet Kaur hit a quick-fire 16 but the second half of India’s innings was mainly built upon useful contributions from Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma. While Sharma finished unbeaten on 20 from 16 balls, Rodrigues found the boundary on five occasions during her 22-ball stay for 33.

Nadine de Klerk picked up 2/24 from her three overs but the most miserly South African bowler was Shabnim Ismail, who conceded just 22 from her four overs.

Set a target of 141, the most productive partnership of the South African innings was for the second wicket; Tazmin Brits and Laura Wolvaardt added 39. Brits departed from the final ball of the eighth over to leave South Africa 49/2, but the wheels came off with the dismissal of Nadine de Klerk.

De Klerk was Poonam Yadav’s first wicket, and her second came shortly as Mignon du Preez fell first ball. Poonam collected her third 12 balls later by having South Africa skipper Sune Luus stumped.

The wickets continued to tumble as South Africa closed out their innings on 89/7, handing India a 51-run win and an unassailable 2-0 lead.

The fifth and final T20I of the series will take place on 4 October.