The Indian women are on the verge of setting a benchmark for their male counterparts on Sunday as they eye a first-ever double series win on South African soil. Harmanpreet Kaur’s side take on the hosts in the third Twenty20 International in Johannesburg.
Having won the three-match One-day International series 2-1, India are currently leading the five-match T20 series 2-0. Another win will not only ensure an unassailable lead 3-0 lead but also make India the first side to have won two series on a single tour of South Africa. India had previously won a T20 series in Australia.
With the men’s team also starting their T20 campaign at the same venue after the women’s match, the onus will be on Smriti Mandhanas and Mithali Raj – who have been in rollicking form – to set the bar high for Virat Kohli’s team. The added incentive is that the series will be telecast live before the men’s matches.
The women have so far put up a near flawless show in both the T20 encounters, winning by seven and nine wickets respectively. Veteran Raj, who no longer leads the side in the shortest format, has displayed her wealth of experience with successive half-centuries – 54* off 48 balls and 76* off 61 balls – bagging the Player of the Match award on both occasions.
Southpaw Mandhana, after a fantastic one-day series, also played her part in the second game, scoring 57 off 42 balls that was laced with three huge sixes. After a poor display in the first game, the bowling attack, led by Shikha Pandey and co bounced back admirably to restrict the
Proteas.
She has received able support from leg-spinner Poonam Yadav, off-break bowler Anuja Patil and all-rounder Deepti Sharma. It will be interesting to see whether the Indian team management – coach Tushar Arothe, skipper Harmanpreet and Raj – decide on playing veteran Rumeli Dhar, who will be a part of the international setup after a gap of six years.
Squads:
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Anuja Patil, Taniya Bhatia, Nuzhat Parveen, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Rumeli Dhar
South Africa: Dane van Niekerk (c), Marizanne Kapp, Trisha Chetty, Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Sune Luus, Odine Kirsten, Mignon du Preez, Lizelle Lee, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Raisibe Ntozakhe, Moseline Daniels.
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