1st ODI_Preview

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Match Details

Date: March 7, 2021

Time: 9:00 AM IST

Venue: Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

Preview:

International women’s cricket is back in the country as India Women lock horns with South Africa Women in Lucknow on Sunday.

This will be the first assignment for Indian team since the pandemic. They have been out of action since last year’s T20I World Cup in Australia where they had a fantastic campaign, finishing as runners-up. However, the Indian cricketers did feature in the Women’s T20 Challenge held in November, 2020. Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav was most impressive player in UAE as she finished the tournament with 8 wickets to her name. She will be a key for India against a strong South African batting line-up.

On the other hand, the Protea side is coming to this series on the back of victories in ODI and T20I series against Pakistan Women. They will certainly be riding high on confidence after some scintillating performances at home. Pacer Shabnim Ismail was fantastic for them as she scalped 7 wickets in the ODI series. Laura Wolvaardt also had an impressive series, finishing with 125 runs in 3 matches. With some quality players in the form of Sune Luus and Lizelle Lee in their side, South Africa Women will certainly pose a huge challenge to Mithali Raj’s side.

Team News

India Women:

Mithali Raj will lead a talented Indian squad, featuring some experienced players in the form of Jhulan Goswami and Smriti Mandhana. All the eyes will be on India’s exciting youngsters, Jemimah Rodrigues and Radha Yadav.

South Africa Women:

Sune Luus will be the captain of a strong-looking South African side that features Shabnim Ismail, Laura Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp and Lizelle Lee.

Players to watch out for: 

Mithali Raj:

Matches: 209 | Runs: 6888 | Avg: 50.64 | HS: 125*

Sune Luus:

Matches: 82 | Runs: 1212 | Avg: 22.9 | HS: 83

Jhulan Goswami:

Matches: 182 | Wickets: 225 | ER: 5.45 | Best: 5/11

Shabnim Ismail:

Matches: 101 | Wickets: 143 | ER: 3.61 | Best: 6/10

Probable Playing XI

India Women:

Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Mithali Raj (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Sushma Verma (wk), Jhulan Goswami, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Mansi Joshi

South Africa Women:

Lizelle Lee, Laura Wolvaardt, Sune Luus (c), Lara Goodall, Mignon du Preez, Marizanne Kapp, Nadine de Klerk, Trisha Chetty (wk), Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeko Mlaba