ABOUT THE MATCH
India and South Africa will try again to get their WT20i series back underway after two washouts. The fourth scheduled game of the series, which will actually be their second if it goes ahead, takes place at Surat’s Lalabhai Contractor Stadium on October 1.
India goes into the match as favorites, having won the only game possible in this series so far. They posted 130/8 in that first game, but Deepti Sharma’s excellent bowling helped them defend it – thus ending a seven-game losing streak in this format.
South Africa did have positives to take away, however. Shabnim Ismail carried her good form from the warm-up game into the main series, while Mignon du Preez scored a half-century and nearly led the Proteas to victory. This game has now become must-win in terms of the series for South Africa.
TOSS PREDICTION
The only toss completed in this series so far saw South Africa win and elect to field first. India could do the same this time if Harmanpreet Kaur is successful.
PITCH AND CONDITIONS
The weather forecast is sadly very similar to what it has been already in this series – the forecast for rain is at more than 50 percent and scattered thunderstorms are expected in Surat throughout Tuesday.
Surat offered up a grippy wicket but the wet conditions will have slowed it down, no matter how much the ground staff has protected the pitch.
PROBABLE PLAYING XI OF INDIA WOMEN
Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Veda Krishnamurthy, Anuja Patil, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Poonam Yadav, Shikha Pandey
PROBABLE PLAYING XI OF SOUTH AFRICA WOMEN
Lizelle Lee (wk), Tazmin Brits, Laura Wolfvaardt, Nadine de Klerk, Mignon du Preez, Sune Luus (c), Shabnim Ismail, Nondumiso Shangase, Ayabonga Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nonkululeko Mlaba
MATCH PREVIEW
INDIA WOMEN
- India must now decide whether to stick or twist as they balance this series against giving players opportunities to stake their claim for first-team selection.
- Pooja Vastrakar’s place looks in the most danger, particularly with Anuja Patil seeking a recall.
- India will have been particularly frustrated by this weather given they had a real opportunity to kick on.
- The first game of the series saw them end a seven-game losing streak in this format so they had a chance to really build a platform in this series.
- Harmanpreet Kaur top-scored with the bat in that first game but there was no doubting the star of the show Deepti Sharma bowling India to an 11-run win.
SOUTH AFRICA WOMEN
- Like India, South Africa must now decide with limited opportunities left in this series to blood new talent, whether to stick or twist.
- One newcomer who has already featured is Nonkululeko Mlaba, who will be desperate for another chance with the ball.
- South Africa are looking to come from behind to win a series for the second consecutive time.
- They won the last two match of their series to beat Pakistan previously and now need to do the same again.
- There were positive signs in the first match too. They held India to 130/8 and Mignon du Preez could have led them to victory on another day.
- The biggest difference was Deepti Sharma’s three consecutive maidens, that just left too much to do at the end.
PROBABLE WINNING TEAM:
India can now seal series victory in this game, weather permitting, and they are favorites to be the Proteas in Surat.
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