CENTURION: Indian women's cricket team will return from their tour of South Africa without losing a single series after the fourth T20 International was abandoned due to rain, giving Harmanpreet Kaur's team an unbeatable 2-1 lead in the five-match contest.
The South Africans, who were put to bat, were 130 for 3 from 15. 3 overs when heavens opened up to half the proceedings at the SuperSport Park.
After a wait of nearly two hours, the umpires finally decided to abandon the match. The fifth and final T20 International will be played in Cape Town on February 24.
A win in Cape Town will make Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. the first to have won two series on a single tour of South Africa.
It will also be a huge milestone after having won the T20 series in Australia. The rain stopped in between, raising hopes of a shortened match to happen.
But the Indian run chase did not happen in the end as light rain returned again to play spoilsport. During the 15. 3 overs of play, South African openers Lizelle Lee (58 not out) and Dane van Niekerk (55) hit half centuries while off-spinner Deepti Sharma was the pick of Indian bowlers with figures of 2/33.
Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav took one wicket. Today's abandonment of the match meant that the Indian women will not lose a series in this South Africa tour as the visitors had clinched the preceding three-match ODI series 2-1.
The Indian team was aiming for a quick recovery from a rare setback in the third T20I.
After convincing victories -- by seven and nine wickets respectively -- in the first two T20 games, India allowed South Africa to stay alive in the series by slumping to a five-wicket loss against the hosts in the third match in Johannesburg on February 18.