Sports News: India Women to take on South Africa Women in dress rehearsal for tri-series final

Sports News: India’s top players are expected to adopt a bold approach when they take on South Africa in the dress rehearsal for the final of the women’s tri-series on Saturday. With West Indies having lost their first three matches, the final will be between India and South Africa on 2 February.

Had it not been for the experienced duo of Smriti Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, India would have struggled to post a competitive total against West Indies in their last league match.

While both of them are expected to deliver consistent performances for the team, the skipper will expect exceptional performances from the youngsters. Yastika Bhatia, who opened the innings in the absence of Shefali Verma, has not been able to attack the bowlers in the powerplay. Proper batting approach for South Africa and West India could prove costly against tough opponents like Australia and England in the upcoming World Cup.

In the absence of Richa Ghosh, who is also on India U-19 duty with Shafali, the team needs to find another power hitter in the middle order. Rookie Amanjot Kaur was impressive on her debut and will be keen to use the long handle again. Jemimah Rodrigues’ poor run of form has continued since the home series against Australia and she needs to find runs ahead of next month’s ICC event. The game will also provide Harleen Deol another opportunity to make an impact after two failures.

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All-rounder Pooja Vastrakar is yet to get a game due to her fitness but is likely to play on Saturday. Shikha Pandey, who made a surprise return to the national side, will be expected to provide the early success after going wicketless in her comeback game. After losing to India in the first match of the tri-series, South Africa will look to make amends ahead of the re-match in the final. The hosts beat West Indies by 10 wickets to seal their place in the title clash.

After losing to India in the first match of the tri-series, South Africa will aim to improve their performance ahead of the final rematch. They easily defeated the West Indies by a large margin to secure a place in the final.

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Rajeshwari Gaikwad, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarwani, Sushma Verma (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, Sabbhineni Meghna, Sneh Rana and Shikha Pandey

South Africa: Sune Luus (c), Chloe Trianon (vc), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Derksen, Lara Goodall, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klass, Tebogo Macheke , Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Delmi Tucker and Laura Wolvaardt