Tag: Harmanpreet Kaur

Smriti-led India looks to make amends in T20I series

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This ancient city may not have been the first choice to host South Africa on Indian women’s return to international cricket after a year claimed by the deadly coronavirus. Thiruvananthapuram was.

But, perhaps it is only apt that India’s female cricketers landed in Lucknow, three weeks ago. For, this, in a sense, has been a homecoming for Indian women’s cricket. It was here that organised women’s cricket began in the country, nearly five decades ago.

The Women in Blue might not be too pleased with the way things have gone for them on the field, though. They were soundly beaten 4-1 in the ODI series that ended on Wednesday.

They would indeed be keen to put the disappointing series behind them when the three-match T20I series gets underway, under lights, at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium on Saturday.

It will be a double-header at the weekend, with the second match scheduled for Sunday. The final game will be played on March 23.

The setback in the 50-over series notwithstanding, nobody is likely to take India lightly — least of all South Africa. Sune Luus’ women know too well that this Indian side boasts some serious match-winners, including the explosive 17-year-old opener Shafali Verma, who wasn’t part of the ODI series.

But, India is handicapped by the absence of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who has been ruled out of the opener owing to an injury.

Smriti Mandhana will take over the captain’s armband. The left-handed stylist will want to give her side a flying start in the company of Shafali.

India’s bowlers, especially the spinners, need to come up with a better display against a fired up South African batting line-up featuring Lizelle Lee, Mignon du Preez, Laura Wolvaardt, Lara Goodall, Luus and Marizanne Kapp.

The teams (from):

India: Smriti Mandhana (Capt.), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Sushma Verma, Harleen Deol, Arundhati Reddy, Nuzhat Parveen, Ayushi Soni, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, C. Prathyusha, and Simran Dil Bahadur.

South Africa: Sune Luus (Capt.), Lizelle Lee, Laura Wolvaardt, Mignon du Preez, Lara Goodall, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Shabnim Ismail, Trisha Chetty, Sinalo Jafta, Tasmin Britz, Nondumiso Shangase, Anneke Bosch, Faye Tunnicliffe, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Nadine de Klerk, and Tumi Sekhukhune.

The schedule: March 20, 21 and 23. All matches begin at 7 p.m.

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INDW vs SAW: Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur ruled out of T20I opener against South Africa | Cricket News – Times of India

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LUCKNOW: India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has been ruled out of the opening women’s T20 International of the three-match series against South Africa here due to an injury, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said on Friday.
Harmanpreet suffered a hip-flexor injury while batting in the fifth ODI against the same opponents on Wednesday.
The series opener will be held on Saturday.
“She (Harmanpreet) is out of tomorrow’s match and rest of the update on her condition will be given by the medical team,” Mandhana, a left-handed opener, said during a virtual pre-match press conference.
India were outplayed by South Africa in the women’s ODI series with the visitors pocketing the rubber 1-4.
But Mandhana said the ODI series is a thing of the past as their focus shifts to the T20 rubber.
“We will try to forget the ODIs and focus on the T20 series. Yes, the ODI series was a disappointment but we need to forget that and move ahead. Some new faces have come in the team, so we need to think fresh,” Mandhana said.
“We had a discussion on how to go about our preparation, what went wrong in the ODI series and how to go forward. We now need to concentrate on the T20s. We are now looking at the ODI series as a preparation for T20 series.”
The Indian women were very sloppy in the field during the ODI series and Mandhana stressed on working on that aspect of the game.
“We have been in the process in the last 3-4 years. Few catches haave dropped in the ODis, but we need to get on with a fresh mind in the T20 series and leave behind the ODI series disappointment,” she said.
She also pointed out that the spinners, India’s biggest strength, need to pull up their socks in the T20 series.
“Spinners are our biggest stregnth. Definitely, they (spinners) were not bad but inconsistent in their bowling (in the ODI series). But if we keep pitching the ball in the same same areas, it will become difficult for batters,” Mandhana said.

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5th ODI: India women lose to South Africa by 5 wickets, concede series 1-4 | Cricket News – Times of India

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LUCKNOW: South Africa added salt to India’s wounds by registering a five-wicket win over the hosts in the low-scoring fifth and final women’s ODI to seal the series 4-1 on Wednesday.
Mithali Raj played a captain’s knock by hitting a well-crafted 79 not out but it was only enough to take India to 188 all out.
South Africa then rode on Anneke Bosch (58) and Mignon du Preez’s (57) half-centuries to chase down the target in 48.2 overs.
The series marked India’s return to international cricket after 12 months. They were naturally rusty to start with and by the end of the series, it seemed that they have a lot of work to do if they want to be title contenders for the World Cup early next year.
The batting needs more firepower and bowling concerns too need to be addressed as spinners, traditionally India’s strength, struggled against South Africa.
South Africa’s chase got off to a disastrous start as the visitors lost their top three batters including skipper Sune Luus (10) for just 27 runs.
Du Preez (57) and Bosch (58) stabilised South Africa’s run chase with a 96-run partnership for the fourth wicket before Indian bowlers pulled things back, dismissing both the set batters in quick succession.
At that stage South Africa were 131 for five, still needing 58 runs in 13 overs for a win.
While Bosch’s knock was laced with eight fours and came off 70 balls, du Preez was a tad slower as she took 10 balls for her innings and struck just four boundaries in the process.
Marizanne Kapp (36 not out) and Nadine de Klerk (19 not out), however, ensured there were no further hiccups as the duo shared unbeaten 58 runs for the sixth wicket to guide South Africa home.
For India, left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad picked up three wickets conceding just 13 runs off her 10 overs.
Earlier, Mithali steered India’s innings after India lost three early wickets with the scoreboard reading 53 in the 13th over.
Together with Harmanpreet Kaur (30), who retired hurt due to an injury, Mithali shared 71 runs for the fourth wicket before the former left the ground in the 31st over.
India lost opener Priya Punia (18) early before India’s star batswoman of the series Punam Raut (10) and Smriti Mandhana (18) departed in successive overs.
Dayalan Hemalatha (2) and Sushma Verma (0) failed to provide the much-needed support to Mithali as the veteran Indian batter brought up her second fifty of the series and 55th overall in 78 balls in the 38th over.
Jhulan Goswami (5) and Monica Patel (9) too didn’t trouble the scorers much as Mithali kept India’s innings going single-handedly.
Debutant Challuru Prathyusha (2) also failed to make a mark as India slumped to 176 for eight by the end of the 47th over.
Mithali was left stranded at one hand as India kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out in 49.3 overs.
Medium pacer de Klerk was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa with figures of three for 35.

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India’s World Cup preparation to begin with home series against South Africa | Cricket News – Times of India

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LUCKNOW: The Indian women’s team will finally get to shake off the rust after 12 months of no international cricket and start their ODI World Cup preparation with the five-match series against South Africa beginning here on Sunday.
While the South Africans come into the series fresh from their home rubber against Pakistan last month, the Indians last played on March 8, 2020 when they lost to Australia in the T20 World Cup final.
The quarantine protocol in COVID times have given only two days of nets to both the teams, making it tougher for the players to be at their best from the word go.
It can be safely said that the Indians have fallen behind in their World Cup preparation compared to the likes of England, New Zealand and Australia, who have played more regularly amid the pandemic.
The new selection committee has come in with its own vision and picked six uncapped players for the eight match contest also comprising three T20s, leaving out senior players like Shikha Pandey, Taniya Bhatia and Veda Krishnamurthy. The non- selection of T20 star Shafali Verma for the ODIs has also raised a few eyebrows.
Harmanpreet Kaur, who is Mithali Raj‘s deputy in ODIs and T20 captain, insisted that rustiness will not be an issue for them and the players are itching to take the field after a long gap.
“It was a long break but sometimes things are not under your control, now we are getting to play cricket and we have to ensure we use this time and make our best combination for the upcoming tournaments,” Harmanpreet, who will be playing her 100th ODI on Sunday, had said two days before the series opener.
Though the players did not get much game time over the past one year, they ensured their fitness remained unaffected. Some of the players, including Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma, used the free time to play in club tournaments as they did not know when the next India assignment would come.
With the ODI World Cup scheduled in New Zealand early next year, the team needs to explore options in the middle-order and the pace department.
South Africa, who recently beat Pakistan 3-0, will miss the services of their regular skipper Dane van Niekerk and all-rounder Chloe Tyron for the India tour. Sune Luus will lead the side in Niekerk’s absence.
The visitors got very little time to get used to the conditions but they go into the series with a lot more match time than the hosts.
All the games will be played at state of the art Ekana Stadium with crowd capacity capped at 10 per cent.
Teams (from):
India women: Mithali Raj (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur, D Hemalatha, Deepti Sharma, Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper), Swetha Verma, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Poonam Yadav, C Prathyusha, Monica Patel.
South Africa women: Sune Luus (captain), Ayabonga Khaka, Shabnim Ismail, Laura Wolvaardt, Trisha Chetty, Sinalo Jafta, Tasmin Britz, Marizanne Kapp, Nondumiso Shangase, Lizelle Lee, Anneke Bosch, Faye Tunnicliffe, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Mignon du Preez, Nadine de Klerk, Lara Goodall, Tumi Sekhukhune.
Match starts at 9 am.

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