Inexperienced South Africa gear up for spin challenge
Deepti Sharma will look to spin a web around the South African batters once again
Spin played a key role in India's victory in the opening T20I against South Africa in Surat and the hosts will be banking on their slow bowlers to do the job again as they seek a 2-0 lead on Thursday (September 26). South Africa, meanwhile, will be looking for the batting order to step up to the challenge - something that was lacking in the first game as they lost wickets at regular intervals and didn't have any momentum in their chase despite Mignon du Preez's fighting half-century.
As many as eight wickets were picked up by the spinners, including one for skipper Harmanpreet Kaur who sent down three overs - a clear indication of how India will operate in this series. Pooja Vastrakar bowled only one over in which she conceded 18 runs, which left Shikha Pandey having to handle the burden of the fast bowling duties - which she did quite well as she conceded only 18 runs from her four overs while bagging a couple of wickets. India do not have many problems when it comes to their bowling but coach WV Raman is likely to observe the batting performances closely with the T20 World Cup round the corner.
Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana were at the forefront of India's batting again but the rest weren't quite able to match up, which is an area of concern - especially with the experienced Mithali Raj having pulled down the curtains on her T20I career. That India managed only 25 runs in the last four overs, which followed the dismissal of Harmanpreet, puts a question mark over the finishing abilities of the middle order. Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and Veda Krishnamurthy form the core of the batting order along with the big two, and India will be hoping that they have productive outings in the coming matches.
For South Africa to succeed, they'll have to find a way to counter India's spin. Apart from du Preez, Lizelle Lee looked in good touch during her 11-ball stay, having recently scored a 48-ball 65 against the Indian Board President's XI. A good start from her will be crucial for the team's fortunes, and would ease the pressure on the batters below her. Du Preez and stand-in skipper Sune Luus will have to shoulder the bulk of the responsibility for shepherding the middle-order batting in the absence of regular skipper Dane van Niekerk, with the batters above them being relatively inexperienced.
When: Thursday, September 26 at 7:00 PM IST
Where: Lalabhai Contractor Stadium , Surat
What to expect: Rain is forecast for Thursday evening, and might lead to a curtailed game. Should that happen, bowling with a wet ball in the second innings will not be an easy task, bringing the toss factor into play.
Team news:
India: The hosts are unlikely to make any changes this early in the series, which means Arundhati Reddy, Anuja Patil, Mansi Joshi, and Harleen Deol are likely to have an extended stay on the bench.
Probable XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Veda Krishnamurthy, Poonam Yadav, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey
South Africa:The visitors, too, may not look at changes - at least for the next game. Lara Goodall, Anne Bosch and Sinalo Jafta are the other options available, should they look to tinker.
Probable XI: Lizelle Lee (wk), Tazmin Brits, Laura Wolvaardt, Nadine de Klerk, Mignon du Preez, Sune Luus (c), Nondumiso Shangase, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune
What they said:
"With batting, we need to improve a lot because we are playing with more batters and we were short one bowler. If we work more on our batting then we can be more dangerous" - Harmanpreet Kaur, India captain.
"The way Deepti and all of their spinners went about their bowling, you could definitely see there was more spin at the back-end of the innings. That's something we need to take into consideration for the next few games" - Sune Luus, South Africa captain.
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