Riding on Jemimah Rodrigues' career-best century and half-tons from opener Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma, India defeated a fighting South Africa by 23 runs to set up the title clash with Sri Lanka in the women's Tri-Nation ODI series here on Wednesday.

Rodrigues' blazing 123 off 101 balls, laced with 15 fours and a six, saw India post 337/9 before the bowlers, led by seamer Amanjot Kaur (3/59) and off-spinner Deepti (2/57), restricted the opponents to 314/7. This despite Annerie Dercksen's fine 81-run knock and stand-in skipper Chloe Tryon's 67.

India ended their round-robin phase with six points from four games.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have four points from three games and could garner two more points if they beat South Africa on Friday. South Africa, after losing three consecutive games, are out of contention.

India's batting prowess came to the fore once again as the 24-year-old Jemimah anchored the team's innings with her second ODI hundred. She shared two vital partnerships - an 88-run stand off 99 balls with opener Mandhana (51) and a 122-run partnership off 115 balls with Deepti (93). Rodrigues was finally dismissed in the 43rd over caught at point while trying to hit over the offside.

The success did bring cheers to the South African camp but the euphoria was short-lived as all-rounder Deepti took over and played a classy 84-ball innings, studded with 10 boundaries and two sixes. For South Africa, seamer Masabata Klaas (2/51), Nadine de Klerk (2/54) and left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba (2/71) were the pick of the bowlers.

With a massive run-chase staring at them, South Africa lost opener Lara Goodall (7) in the second over. But Tazmin Brits (26) and Miane Smit (39) repaired the damage somewhat with a 63-run partnership for the second wicket as the opponents reached 70/2 by the 15th over.

But with India skipper Harmanpreet tactfully utilising her bowling resources, South African batters found it tough to go for the big hits, scoring most of their runs in ones and twos. South African top-order batter Annerie Dercksen (81 off 80 balls) did try to push the scoring rate up during her 72-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Tryon (67 off 43 balls), but with the asking rate creeping up steadily they just could not keep pace. With two overs remaining and South Africa on 299/6, the match was halted temporarily due to poor light.

But Tryon and Nadine de Klerk came out to bat once the light improved and scored 15 more runs.

Brief scores: India: 337/9 (Rodrigues 123, Deepti 93, Mandhana 51; Klaas 2/51, de Klerk 2/54); South Africa: 314/7 (Dercksen 81, Tryon 67; Amanjot 3/59, Deepti 2/57).

Brief scores: India: 337/9 (Rodrigues 123, Deepti 93, Mandhana 51; Klaas 2/51, de Klerk 2/54); South Africa: 314/7 (Dercksen 81, Tryon 67; Amanjot 3/59, Deepti 2/57).