Visakhapatnam
Toss India chose to bowl vs South Africa
They decided to go with a three-pronged spin attack on the black-soil Chepauk surface that Harmanpreet believed would provide assistance for the spinners. This match marks India’s first women’s T20I at this venue.
Surprisingly, offspinner Shreyanka Patil was left out of India’s XI, replaced by left-arm spinner Radha Yadav, who was the Player of the Series in the previous matches against Bangladesh, along with Asha Sobhana and Deepti Sharma.
In the batting lineup, D Hemalatha was given the opportunity to secure the No. 3 spot with Yastika Bhatia still recovering from an injury. Having performed well in the matches against Bangladesh, Hemalatha looked to make a positive impact. Additionally, this was Richa Ghosh’s 50th T20I.
This series is considered the final phase of preparation for both teams leading up to the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh this October. While India has the Women’s Asia Cup coming up later this month, this series is likely to be South Africa’s last before the World Cup.
India is aiming for a clean sweep of the entire tour, having already won the ODIs 3-0 and the one-off Test match in Chennai last week.
India: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Singh
South Africa: Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Tazmin Brits, Marizanne Kapp, Anneke Bosch, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Eliz-Mari Marx, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeko Mlaba
