India clinched a commanding 10-wicket victory over South Africa in the Only Women’s Test at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Despite a resilient effort from South Africa to avoid the follow-on, India's dominance remained unchallenged, extending their winning streak to 3-0 against their African counterparts in Test cricket.
After conceding a substantial first-innings lead of 337 runs, South Africa staged a comeback in their second innings. Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus led the charge with a partnership of 190 runs for the second wicket. Wolvaardt notched up her century off 259 deliveries, becoming only the third women's cricketer to achieve hundreds across all three formats, alongside England’s Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont. Her innings of 122 runs off 314 balls included 16 boundaries before Rajeshwari Gayakwad dismissed her.
Harmanpreet Kaur claimed the crucial wicket of Luus, who contributed 109 runs. Marizanne Kapp added 31 runs, while Nadine de Klerk fought hard with 61 runs off 185 balls, helping South Africa erase the deficit and force India to bat again. Sinalo Jafta, who retired hurt due to lower limb cramps, returned to the crease briefly before being dismissed by Sneh Rana. Rana's performance was notable as she became only the second Indian bowler after Jhulan Goswami to take 10 wickets in a Women’s Test, supported by Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad with two wickets each.
In the chase, Smriti Mandhana, who scored 149 runs on Day 1, did not bat, allowing Shubha Satheesh to partner with Shafali Verma. Satheesh and Shafali swiftly reached the target of 37 runs in just 9.2 overs, with Shafali contributing an unbeaten 24 runs off 30 balls, continuing her impressive form from the first innings where she scored 205 runs.
Brief Scores: India 603/6 decl. (Shafali Verma 205, Smriti Mandhana 149, Richa Ghosh 86, Harmanpreet Kaur 69) & 37/0 (Shafali Verma 24*) defeated South Africa 266 (Marizanne Kapp 74, Sune Luus 65) & 373 (Sune Luus 109, Laura Wolvaardt 122, Nadine de Klerk 61) by 10 wickets
