Ind W vs SA W, 3rd ODI: Punam Raut’s 77-run knock guides hosts to 248/5

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 12 (ANI): Batter Punam Raut’s 77-run knock steered India to 248/5 in the third ODI against South Africa here at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday.
South Africa won the toss and asked the hosts to bat first. India suffered the worst possible start as they lost opener Jemimah Rodrigues for a duck off the second ball of the innings. Shabnim Ismail scalped the wicket of Rodrigues.
Raut then joined Smriti Mandhan in the middle and the duo added 64 runs for the second wicket. Pacer Tumi Sekhukhune ended Mandhana’s 25-run stint in the 12th over.
After Mandhana’s dismissal, skipper Mithali Raj came to bat at number four. Both Mithali and Raut played freely and added runs easily and stitched a partnership of 77. The stand enabled the hosts to cross the three-figure mark.
The solid-looking partnership was broken by Anne Bosch as she sent Mithali back to the pavilion in 28th over. She played a knock of 36 and in the process completed 10,000 runs in international cricket. Mithali became the second woman to reach 10,000 runs in international cricket. Former England skipper Charlotte Edwards was the first woman to do so. She is the leading run-getter across format with 10,273 runs.
Raut found the support of T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and continued her knock. Raut along with Harmanpreet build a brief 20-run stand before she was picked by Marizanne Kapp in the 34th over. Raut scored 77 runs decorated with 11 fours.

Deepti Sharma joined Harmanpreet in the middle and tried to continue the scoring for India. The duo guided the side past the 200-run mark. They added 60 for the fifth wicket as Harmanpreet departed after scoring 36 runs.
Deepti found the support of Sushma Verma and steered the side to 248/5 in allotted 50 overs. Deepti and Sushma remained unbeaten on 36 and 14 respectively.
For the visitors, Ismail bagged two wickets while Kapp, Sekhukhune and Bosch claimed one wicket each.
Brief Scores: India women 248/5 in 50 overs (Punam Raut 77, Deepti Sharma 36*; Shabnim Ismail 2-46) vs South Africa women (ANI)