With the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup around the corner, India Women will begin their preparations with a five-match series against South Africa in Durban, starting at the Kingsmead on Friday. The two sides last met in the ODI World Cup final last year, where India Women secured their maiden ICC title.
The party led by Harmanpreet Kaur who recently won T20 series against Australia and Sri Lanka, enter the competition full of confidence. “We want to take this opportunity very seriously and play our best cricket here. It’s a great opportunity for us to come together and prepare well before the World Cup,” Harmanpreet said in a pre-series press conference.
The captain of the series believes against South Africa will offer a valuable opportunity to fine-tune the combinationto build momentum ahead of the global event, which will take place in England and Wales from 12 June to 5 July. “These matches are important to ensure that all players get equal opportunities so that we are fully prepared as a unit for the World Cup. At the same time, we are here to win,” she noted. “After the ODI World Cup, the team is quite confident. Wherever we go, we go with full confidence. The team is in good form and this series is very important for us ahead of the World Cup.”
South Africa, on the other hand, entered the series having lost six of their eight white-ball matches against an Amelia Kerr-led New Zealand side. “We’ve been trying to fix things. I think we’ve identified where we went wrong. With the ball, it was in our execution … We’ve got to be more proactive with the bat — rotate (the shot) better, have a few different shots up our sleeve. Also, the last few days we’ve been specific about the shots we want to play and we’ve been practicing them a little bit when we’ve lost a little bit of shape with the bat. I think we’ve been practicing with the bat a little bit. We’ve been focusing on that.” said Laura Wolvaardt
HEAD TO HEAD
India hold a strong record against the 2024 finalists, having won 10 of the 19 encounters between the two sides while losing six. Furthermore, South Africa’s home advantage may be largely theoretical. Durban, where Sunday’s match will also be played, is home to the majority of the population of the South Asian DIASPORA.,
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
The live action of the T20I series will be available on the Star Sports network and its digital platform – JioStar. The match will start at 21:30 IST.
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Published on:
17 Apr 2026 15:30 IST
