Australia women 174 for 1 (Lanning 80*, Bolton 77*) beat South Africa women 173 for 8 (Lee 102, Du Preez 36, Harris 3-31) by nine wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
File photo – Nicole Bolton scored her first fifty of the series, an unbeaten 77, to help Australia women win the third ODI © Getty Images and Cricket Australia
Nicole Bolton and Meg Lanning scored fifties and put on an unbroken 161-run stand for the second wicket to lead Australia women to a nine-wicket win over South Africa in Sydney. The win handed Australia a series victor with two matches still to be played.
A rain delay meant the match was reduced to 32 overs. South Africa lost Suné Luus and Dinesha Devnarain early, after electing to bat. But opener Lizelle Lee and Mignon du Preez joined together in the ninth over and put on 110 off 104 deliveries to put South Africa in a strong position ahead of the final stretch of the innings. Lee dominated the partnership – which ended with du Preez’s dismissal for 36 – and eventually went on the score her maiden ODI century. However, she could not prevent a South Africa collapse after de Preez’s wicket – they went from 143 for 2 in the 26th over, to finishing on 173 for 8. Grace Harris (3-31) took two of those wickets, while three batsmen were run out.
Australia’s chase began with the early loss of opener Elysse Villani (13) in the first over, but South Africa had no further success from there. Lanning – who had put up 224 with Ellyse Perry in the comprehensive win in the second ODI – took charge of yet another partnership, scoring a 75-ball 80, while Nicole Bolton scored her first fifty of the series, remaining unbeaten on an 83-ball 77. Their partnership took Australia past the target with 4.5 overs to spare.
This was the last match of the ICC Women’s Championship, which Australia had already won last month after beating West Indies. South Africa, who had a shot at automatic qualification for the World Cup at the beginning of this series, finished in sixth place and will have to earn their qualification.
England, New Zealand and West Indies sealed the other automatic qualification spots.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo