Poonam Raut, Mithali Raj help Indian eves win Quadrangular Series

Potchefstroom: Brilliant half-centuries from Poonam Raut and Mithali Raj helped the Indian women's cricket team beat South Africa by eight wickets to win the Quadrangular Series at Senwes Park, Potchefstroom on Sunday.

Chasing a modest target of 157, India lost opener Deepti Sharma and Mona Meshram cheaply before Raut and Raj completed the job in a clinical fashion.

Raut (70 off 92 balls) and Raj (62 off 79 balls) shared an unbeaten 127-run stand and helped the team chase a target in 33 overs.

Raj not only guided the team to a resounding win but also became the first Indian captain to lead the side in 100 One-Day International (ODIs).

Earlier, veteran Jhulan Goswami proved her captain's decision to field first right as she starred with the ball with three wickets, helping India dismiss South Africa for a paltry 156 in 40.2 overs.

The Proteas did got some resistance courtesy a 73-run third-wicket stand between Sune Luus (55) and Mignon du Preez (30).

This victory was a sweet revenge of sorts for India as they had lost to the hosts in the league stage of the tournament. The other teams in the tournament were Zimbabwe and Ireland.

During the ongoing quadrangular series, multiple records were broken. Goswami became the leading wicket-taker in Women's ODIs. En route to this achievement, she went past Australian Cathryn Fitzpatrick record of 180 wickets.

Sharma recorded the highest score by an Indian when she notched up 188 against Ireland. She also hit 27 fours in that innings which is another world record.

Deepti and Punam created history by becoming the first pair to share a 300-run stand in Women's ODIs.

In the league match against Ireland, the duo added 320 runs for the first wicket in 45.3 overs. It was the first time that the women's ODIs had witnessed a 300 or more runs stand.

The Indian women's team recorded 16 successive victories between February 2016 and May 2017. However, the loss against the Proteas didn't allow them from equalling Australia's record of 17 consecutive ODI wins.