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South Africa outplayed India in all departments to register a five-wicket win in the low-scoring fifth and final One-day International to seal the series 4-1 in Lucknow on Wednesday.
Mithali Raj top scored for India with a well-crafted 79 not out but the rest of batting lineup couldn’t rally around it, finishing with 188/9 with Harmanpreet Kaur retiring hurt on 30 off 55. South Africa then rode on Anneke Bosch (58) and Mignon du Preez’s (57) half-centuries to chase down the target in 48.2 overs.
The series marked India’s return to international cricket after 12 months. Coming back after a long break, the India players had only a handful of training sessions ahead of the series as they also had to undergo a mandatory one week quarantine. They were naturally rusty to start with and by the end of the series, it seemed that they have a lot of work to do if they want to be title contenders for the World Cup early next year.