Mlaba, Wolvaardt star as South Africa sweep series 3-0

A four-wicket haul from Nonkululeko Mlaba and an unbeaten ton from Laura Wolvaardt helped South Africa to six-wicket win in the third ODI against Ireland and sweep the series 3-0.

Opting to bat, Ireland lost Sarah Forbes early but a 99-run stand between captain Gaby Lewis and Coulter Reilly revived the visitors. Tumi Sekhukhune broke that stand with the wicket of Reilly and kickstarted a collapse. A score of 120/1 became 120/4 as Mlaba struck twice in the 27th over to account for a well-set Lewis on 64 and Laura Delany.

From thereon, Ireland could manage just two stands over 30 and were bowled out for 205 in 45.2 overs. It wasn't a total that had the potential to challenge an in-form South African side and so it proved.

Wolvaardt, who hit 16 fours, and Tanzim Brits added 56 for the first wicket. Arlene Kelly sent back Brits in the eighth over but Wolvaardt stitched together another 56-run stand with Karabo Meso. Kelly finished with two wickets whereas Aimee Maguire also picked two but South Africa kept chugging towards the target, with Wolvaardt remaining unbeaten on 100 to help her side win with 17.4 overs to spare.

Brief Scores: Ireland 205 in 45.2 overs (Lewis 64; Mlaba 4-33) lost to South Africa 206/4 in 32.2 overs (Wolvaardt 100*) by 6 wickets