Johannesburg, April 26 (IANS) India rode on an all-round masterclass from Deepti Sharma to register a 14-run win over the South Africa in the fourth Women’s T20I in Johannesburg on Sunday. While the hosts still hold an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series, the Women in Blue managed to avoid a whitewash

Deepti delivered a match-winning spell of 5/19 after contributing an unbeaten 36 with the bat, earning the Player of the Match honours. Earlier, useful knocks from Jemimah Rodrigues (43) and Sharma powered India to a competitive 185/5 in 20 overs.

Opting to bowl first after winning the toss, South Africa struck early through Eliz-Mari Marx, who removed Shafali Verma for 9. Tumi Sekhukhune then dismissed Anushka Sharma (27) towards the end of the powerplay, leaving India at 47/2.

India rebuilt through Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (22), who stitched a 55-run stand to take the visitors past the 100-run mark in the 11th over. The partnership was eventually broken by Kayla Reyneke, who dismissed Rodrigues (43). Marx then trapped Bharti Fulmali lbw for 2, while Reyneke removed Kaur soon after, reducing India to 122/5 in 14 overs.

However, Deepti and Richa Ghosh (34*) ensured a strong finish with an unbeaten 65-run stand for the sixth wicket, guiding India to 185/5.

Chasing 186, South Africa got off to a brisk start through Laura Wolvaardt (18) and Sune Luus (40), racing to 32 without loss in just three overs. Kranti Gaud provided the breakthrough by dismissing the Proteas skipper as the visitors took a sigh of relief.

Luus and Tazmin Brits (30) added 44 runs for the second wicket before Deepti struck to remove the former in the ninth over. Thereafter, wickets fell at regular intervals as South Africa struggled to keep pace with the rising required rate.

Deepti led the charge with the ball, while Shree Charani, Kashvee Gautam and Shafali chipped in with a wicket each to restrict the hosts to 171/9. Marx’s unbeaten 21 provided some late resistance but proved insufficient and India clinched the win.

The fifth and final T20I will be played on Monday at Willowmoore Park in Benoni.

Brief Scores: India-W 185/5 in 20 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 43, Deepti Sharma 36; Kayla Reyneke 2-10, Eloz-mari Marx 2-28) beat South Africa-W 171/9 in 20 overs (Sune Luus 40, Tazmin Brits 30; Deepti Sharma 5-19, Shree Charani 1-28) by 14 runs.

–IANS

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