The 1st T20 warm-up game between India Women Board President’s XI and South Africa Women will be held at Lalabhai Contractor Stadium in Surat today.
The focus is expected to be on a certain 15-year-old Shafali Verma, who has been picked in India Women’s Twenty-20 International squad that will face their South African counterparts in the series which all follow this game. The South African women would be desperate to take as many outputs as possible from this warm-up game to be completely prepared when they take on the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian side. The first warm-up game will be held on Friday at the Lalbhai Contractor stadium here followed by the second match on Sunday.
South Africa Women’s tour of India will kick start on Friday when they take on the India Women Board President’s XI team in the first of the two warm-up matches. The Protea Women will feature in two warm-up T20s in Surat before the 5-match T20I series also to be played in Surat. The tour then moves into the ODI format as the two teams face off in a 3-match ODI series which is part of ICC ODI Championship.
Apart from Shefali, pacers Mansi Joshi and Pooja Vastrakar have also been named in the T20 squad and a good outing on Friday would also boost their morale before the main tournament begins here on Tuesday. On the other hand, South Africa women will also be aiming to start their Indian tour on a winning note. They would be keen to use these games to assess the conditions and get acclimatized to the hot and humid weather. All the T20s will be played in Surat while the ODIs will be played in Vadodara.
Weather Condition and Pitch Report:
According to CricTracker.com, there could be isolated thunderstorms during the morning which could witness a decent amount of rain. The Lalabhai Contractor Stadium in Surat hasn’t hosted an official Women’s T20 match so far. However, considering the Men’s T20 matches played this year, it can be said that the tracks here could be low-scoring ones. Since this is the start of the season, we might see fresh pitches. Batters could enjoy the conditions from the half-way stage.
TOSS – The toss between South Africa Women and Board President’s XI will take place at 10 AM (IST).
Squads:
BPXI: Sushma Verma (captain & wicket-keeper), Devika Vaidya (vice-captain), Vanitha VR, Shafali Verma, Priya Punia, Jasia Aktar, MD Thirushkamini, Madhuri Mehta, Tarannum Pathan, Sushree Dibyadarshini, Tanuja Kanwar, Bharti Fulmali, Mansi Joshi, Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar.
South Africa women: Sune Luus (Captain), Anneke Bosch, Tasmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Ayabonga Khaka, Lara Goodall, Lizelle Lee, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nondumiso Shangase, Mignon du Preez and Lara Wolvaardt.
My Dream11 Team
Lizelle Lee, Mignon du Preez, Laura Wolvaardt (C), Shafali Verma, Priya Punia, Sune Luus, Nadine de Klerk, Sushree Dibyadarshini, Tumi Sekhukhune, Shabnim Ismail, Mansi Joshi.
