After a year-long absence from international cricket, the Indian women’s team World Cup preparation got off to a shaky start with a massive eight-wicket loss in the first ODI in Lucknow on March 7. India pegged back with a fighting nine-wicket win in the second ODI at the same venue two days later. Both sides head into the third game on Friday seeking to take the lead in the five-match series.
FOLLOW LIVE, 3RD ODI:
HIGHLIGHTS:
Run-up to the series:
South Africa is slightly ahead of India in terms of preparation as the touring party played a home series against Pakistan in February.
India last played on March 8, 2020, the day it lost the T20 World Cup final to Australia.
The SENA countries had ample playing time amid the pandemic, but this Indian team needs to oil its gears to start operating at full throttle once again.
The series so far:
First ODI: Mithali Raj and her girls were handed a harrowing eight-wicket defeat by a solid Proteas lineup led by Sune Luus. The Proteas sent India into bat first and snapped the Indian top-order cheaply. With Shabnim Ismail, Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka setting up a stern test up-front, the Indian middle-order failed to up the scoring rate even as skipper Mithali Raj (50 off 85 balls) and her deputy, Harmanpreet Kaur (40 off 41 balls) aimed for a resurgence. Skipper Luus and Nonkululeko Mlaba held the batters with a fine spell of spin-bowling to further the axe on India who eventually finished at 177/9 in 50 overs.
A thumping reply from the visitor was in the offing as openers Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt stitched a massive 169-run partnership to trump the Indian bowlers. South Africa nailed the chase in 40 overs and handed an agonising defeat for India on its return after 364 days.
Second ODI: It was a good toss to win for Raj as India chose to bowl first on a pitch that was showing cracks on one end. Despite good batting conditions and crucial contributions from Lara Goodall and Sune Luus, India managed to restrict the visitor to 157 with Jhulan Goswami ending the innings with a four-wicket haul. India's chase was barely troubled, despite losing Jemimah Rodrigues early. Smriti Mandhana dealt in boundaries with a fluent and unbeaten 80-run knock while Punam Raut slogged it out with a fighting unbeaten 62 to help the host to a massive nine-wicket win.
Squad- Who’s there and who’s not
When the Neetu David-led selection squad announced the squads for the South Africa series, there was much deliberation regarding the inclusion of rookie right-arm medium pacers C. Prathyusha and Monica Patel in place of the seasoned Shikha Pandey. Not just Pandey, spinner Ekta Bisht had also been replaced by youngster Yashik Bhatia in the 50-over squad.
Patel was given a debut in the first game and showed resolve during her spell, but went wicketless giving away 20 runs in her four overs which also saw a maiden.
While the Indian side missed the experience of Pandey and Bisht in the opening fixture, the selection committee has assured that this was done to test the bench strength of the team, which will be imperative for next year’s World Cup.
The Proteas women's team will continue to miss the services of Chloe Tryon, Dane van Niekerk and Masabata Klaas due to injuries.
READ:
Full squad
Pitch talk
From what we've seen of the pitch, this is a batter-friendly track with the first few overs with the new ball playing a crucial role in setting the tone for the day. The pitch offers good assistance to the pacers early on and South Africa and India have both reaped the benefits of its nature. Bowling first seems to be ideal in these conditions with the heat taking away any moisture through the course of the day. The toss will be important in giving team an edge.
Milestones
- The first ODI of the series was also Harmanpreet Kaur's 100th one-day international.
- Smriti Mandhana's unbeaten 80-run knock was her 10th consecutive fifty-plus knock in a run chase, the first cricketer to achieve this feat
- Mandhana also became India's most successful opening batter for the side. With 2046 runs in 52 ODIs, she surpassed Jaya Sharma's tally of 2039 runs in 72 games.
- Skipper Mithali Raj became the most capped female international cricketer in history of the game.
- Milestone coming up: Raj is 62 runs short of the 7000-run mark in ODIs, which will make her the first woman to do so.
- The India skipper also needs 35 more runs to join an exclusive list of women’s cricketers to have scored 10,000 international runs. Only England's Charlotte Edwards (10,273) has managed this feat thus far.
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Crowd control
After initially deciding to conduct the series behind closed doors, the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association has confirmed that 10 per cent of spectators will be allowed for the limited-overs series between India and South Africa. The tickets have been priced at Rs 200 and Rs 400 and will be available online on Paytm from 6 March.
Head-to-head record [Before the series began]
India has a 7-2 win record against South Africa.
When and where are the matches?
ODI series: March 7, 9, 12, 14, 17
T20I series: March 20, 21, 23
Venue:
Ekana Stadium, Lucknow
Where can you watch it?
India Women vs South Africa Women ODIs will be live on Star Sports 2 (and HD) and Star Sports 3 (and HD). The India Women vs South Africa Women ODIs will also be streamed online on Star Sports Network's digital platforms.
You can also follow the coverage of the game with us live here at Sportstar from 9 am
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