India Women will be looking to end the South African home tour with a series levelling win ahead of the 3rd and final T20i, set to take place tomorrow in Chennai.
South African women lead the series 1-0, having won the first match and with the second one getting washed out due to rain, India’s best chance lies with levelling the series.
South Africa came to India on a multi-format tour and lost the ODI series 3-0 and also the one off test by 10 wickets.
They will be determined to end the difficult tour on a high note with a T20 series win and a 2-0 whitewashing of the Indians.
SA batters look strong
The main strength of the South African team in this series has been their batters stepping up with runs on the board.
They amassed 189 in the first T20 and managed to get 177 in the second T20 before rain played spoilsport.
The SA top order looks in good touch with opener Tazmin Brits in sublime touch, scoring 81 (56b, 10x4s, 3x6s) and 52 (39b, 6x4s, 1×6) in both matches respectively.
She was ably supported by other batters around her with fellow opener and captain Laura Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp, Anneke Bosch all contributing well over two matches.
Shefali and Smriti key for India
For Indians, their opening remains the biggest strength. Shefali and Smriti complement one another extremely well and as seen from the ODI and the one off test, if these two can bat 10-12 overs, they take the game away from the opposition.
Smriti has been in sublime touch throughout the South African tour, scoring two centuries and a 90 in the three match ODI series and following that up with an extraordinary 149 in the test match.
Shefali, after her brilliant double century in the test, couldn’t get going in the first T20i but would no doubts be raring to go in the game tomorrow.
Other Indian batters too have contributed well with useful cameos from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues who made 53 (30b, 7x4s, 1×6) in the first T20.
Pooja Vastrakar looks very good with the ball in hand, having picked up two wickets each in both T20s.
Will rain play spoilsport?
In what has become quite an unusual scenario in Chennai, regular rain spells in the monsoon have become the new norm.
With a 30-40% chance of rain tomorrow, one could only hope and pray that we get the full quota of 40 overs without any rain interruptions.