South Africa 278 for 5 (Luus 93, Wolvaardt 89) beat Ireland 89 (Waldron 32, Ismail 5-8) by 189 runs
South Africa's pace spearhead Shabnim Ismail picked up 5 for 8 to bundle Ireland out for 89 in the third ODI, and lead her team to a 189-run win and seal the series 3-0 in Dublin. Coming into the match having taken 3 for 16 and 3 for 31 in the first and second ODIs respectively, Ismail played a key role in handing South Africa their fourth-biggest win in terms of runs in the format, as she picked up her 300th international wicket, becoming only the fifth bowler to do so in the women's game, after Jhulan Goswami, Katherine Brunt, Ellyse Perry and Anisa Mohammed.
Earlier, Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus combined to post 177 runs for the third wicket, which was South Africa's fifth-highest partnership by runs in the format, to take them to 278 for 5.
The duo of Andrie Steyn and Lara Goodall, who had put up a 165-run stand in South Africa's win in the previous ODI, were dismissed early this time. South Africa got off to a sedate start after electing to bat, losing Steyn to a run-out in the seventh over. Goodall then joined Wolvaardt and the duo began to accelerate, but offspinner Rachel Delaney quickly halted the progress by having Goodall stumped for 18. Luus and Wolvaardt then came together to put up a solid stand and take the visitors to a competitive total.
Luus hit 11 fours in her 104-ball 93 while Wolvaardt's 128-ball 89 was laced with six fours. Jane Maguire broke the strong partnership by dismissing Wolvaardt, while Arlene Kelly removed Luus and Chloe Tryon in the 48th over.
In the chase, Ireland lost two wickets in the first over to Ismail, who then came back to strike again in the fifth and seventh overs. Offspinner Raisibe Ntozakhe put Ireland in further trouble, removing Sophie MacMahon and leaving them at 13 for 5 in 12.3 overs. Mary Waldron and Kelly tried to help Ireland recover from Ismail's fiery opening spell with a 57-run stand. But Luus made sure it did not last too long, as she pinned Waldron in front for 32 in the 24th over. It went downhill from there for Ireland, as they lost their next four wickets for just nine runs, with Ismail wrapping up the match with her fifth wicket in the 33rd over.
With her second five-for in ODIs and 11 wickets in the series, Ismail was named the Player of the Match and Series.
