A low-key little ceremony on the boundary rope marked Harmanpreet Kaur’s 200th T20 international this afternoon at Old Trafford. Cap presented, photos taken, and then straight back to the practical stuff: win the toss, choose to bat in decent sunshine.
“I reckon it’s a ‘very good pitch,’” the captain said, explaining why runs on the board felt the safer option. India have shuffled things a touch to back that call. Prema Rawat, the leg-spinner from Uttarakhand who impressed RCB watchers in the WPL, comes in for the injured Shreyanka Patil and leap-frogs Radha Yadav for the final XI spot. It’s her first international appearance, and she spent a long moment taking it all in before warm-ups. The other Indian change is Arundhati Reddy, recalled after sitting out the Netherlands match. She replaces left-armer Kranti Gaud, wicketless so far on tour.
Those switches give India three slow options plus the two seamers; they think that mix will let them defend later on if the pitch does tire. Old Trafford has rolled out a fresh strip for this one, dry and with square boundaries the same on either side, so there should be no obvious windfall for one set of hitters.
South Africa, who would have batted first too, have tinkered as well after losses to Pakistan and Australia. Tazmin Brits opens in place of struggling Suné Luus, scores of 5 and 1 perhaps forcing the coach’s hand. Former captain Dane van Niekerk is back for her first T20 World Cup outing since 2020, replacing Kayla Reyneke. Van Niekerk has spent the past fortnight ticking over in the nets; now she has a chance to settle that middle order and partner Marizanne Kapp if required.
The sides have not met in a women’s T20 World Cup before. Their last bilateral series, in South Africa, ended 4-1 to the hosts, though conditions there were slower and lower than what we expect today.
Teams
India: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, N Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma.
South Africa: Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Tazmin Brits, Annerie Dercksen, Dane van Niekerk, Marizanne Kapp, Nadine de Klerk, Chloe Tryon, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeko Mlaba.
Play begins at 14:00 local time, weather set fair. A milestone day for Harmanpreet, a first step for Rawat, and a must-win feel for South Africa. Should be plenty to keep the afternoon moving.
