Pooja Vastrakar runs riot as South Africa shot out for 84 in 3rd T20I

CHENNAI: Pooja Vastrakar returned with career-best figures of 4/13 as India shot South Africa out for a mere 84 in the third and final women's T20 International here on Tuesday.

With pacer Vastrakar running riot and left-arm spinner Radha Yadav also grabbing three wickets for just six runs after India opted to bowl, only three South African batters managed to score in double-digit figures, with Tazmin Brits (20 off 23 balls) being their top scorer.

Openers Laura Wolvaardt (9 off 9 balls) and Brits could only manage 19 runs for the first wicket.

As Shreyanka Patil dismissed Wolvaardt in the fourth over, the pair of Brits and Marizanne Kapp (10 off 8 balls) added 11 runs for the second wicket.

Interestingly, the Indians used four different bowlers in the opening four overs.

Kapp fell in the fifth over, as she became Vastrakar's 50th wicket in the format. Next to go for South Africa was Brits with Deepti Sharma grabbing her prized wicket in the eighth over, as the scoreboard read 45 for three.

The same over saw Chloe Tryon being dropped by Deepti, as the slew of poor fielding from the hosts continued in the third straight contest.

Yet, the visitors struggled to get a proper partnership going, having dominated with the bat in the previous two outings.

They lost their next two wickets at the score of 61 in the 11th over, thanks to Vastrakar exploiting the wicket.

Halfway through the innings, it was evident that the track did not have much for the batters, with spongy bounce and mild turn.

Also, the rain in the city in the past couple of days had made the wicket moist, leading to Vastrakar getting mild swings through her medium pace, which indeed troubled the South Africans.

Things simply went worse for South Africa thereon as they lost the remaining five wickets for just 23 runs.