Indian women hope for winning start against Proteas

November 23, 2014 03:25 pm | Updated April 09, 2016 11:32 am IST - Bengaluru

Indian Women's team captain Mithali Raj and her South African counterpart Du Preez. File photo

Indian Women's team captain Mithali Raj and her South African counterpart Du Preez. File photo

Fresh from an innings-and-34-run victory over South Africa in the lone Test at Mysore, the Indian women’s team will seek to ride that confidence through the three-match ODI series and the Twenty20 match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium over the next seven days.

South Africa, though, will do well to draw from its 120-run triumph against India ‘A’ in Saturday’s warm-up match.

The first game on Monday offers an opportunity for Mithali Raj’s spirited band to extend its dominance.

“We carry the confidence from the Test into the ODIs, but we know this is a different format altogether,” Mithali said on Sunday. “We haven’t played South Africa in ODIs for a long time now (since March 2005).”

The current set of ODIs has an added significance as it is part of the ICC Women’s Championship. India opened its campaign with losses in England, and needs to improve on its points-tally (one from three games).

“This is only our second series in the Championship, after England. So the ODIs are more than just about winning the series,” Mithali said.

It would be prudent to recall that a historic Test victory over England at Wormsley in August was followed by an immediate slump in the subsequent ODIs.

Mithali and her team-mates have to address this anomaly of contrasting shows in the game’s diverse formats, while squaring up against Mignon du Preez’s women.

The South African captain acquitted herself well at Mysore, with a ton on debut, but found only one ally in deputy Trisha Chetty. Her team will have to quickly find a way of feeling at home, and Lizelle Lee’s 128 in a winning cause against India ‘A’ could be a good augury.

The teams (from): India: Mithali Raj (captain), Jhulan Goswami, Poonam Raut, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Thirush Kamini, Vanitha Vellaswamy, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Ekta Bisht, Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper), Poonam Yadav, Sneh Rana, Swagatika Rath, Shubhlakshmi Sharma and Deepti Sharma.

South Africa: Mignon du Preez (captain), Trisha Chetty (vice-captain), Savanna Cordes, Moseline Daniels, Yolani Fourie, Shabnim Ismail, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Lizelle Lee, Marcia Letsoalo, Nadine Moodley, Chloe Tryon, Nonkhululeko Thabethe and Dane van Niekerk.

Match starts at 3 p.m .

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