Manchester, June 21 (IANS) India have handed a debut to leg‑spin bowling all-rounder Prema Rawat and included seam-bowling all-rounder Arundhati Reddy as skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bat against South Africa in their Women’s T20 World Cup Group A clash at Old Trafford on Sunday.

A win here for either second-placed India or fourth-ranked South Africa would give them a huge boost in terms of entering the semifinals. It’s also the first time both teams are meeting in a Women’s T20 World Cup game, with the game set to be played on a fresh wicket.

After winning the toss, Harmanpreet, who’s also become the first player to clock 200 T20I appearances and is also marking her 200th game as the Indian captain across all formats, said Prema comes in for Shreyanka Patil, who’s ruled out after suffering a right ankle injury in the 95-run win over Netherlands at Headingley, while Arundhati replaces a rested Kranti Gaud.

“I think it’s a good pitch. If we bat first and put on a good total, that’ll help us win the game. Have to spend some time in the middle. 200th game, it’s been an amazing journey. Never thought I’ll come this far. God has been kind, thankful to Him. Thanks to friends, family, BCCI. I am more nervous playing my 200th match, while Prema is someone who looks very calm,” she said.

South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt said Dane van Niekerk and Tazmin Brits are in the playing eleven in place of Sune Luus and Kayla Reyneke. “Probably would’ve batted as well. Big game, would’ve liked to put runs on the board. Nice to have won against them recently but they have got the better of us at the World Cup recently. Really slow here, so thought of bringing in some batters who are good against the spin,” she said.

In the pitch report, Isa Guha observed that ‘the wind had dropped,’ with boundary dimensions being compact – the straight boundary standing at 70 metres, while square boundaries are equidistant at 61 metres. Assessing the fresh surface, Katey Martin noted it appeared quite dry with plenty of cracks and the grass covering looked fluffy, which suggest conditions are likely to assist spin.

Playing XIs:

India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Sree Charani and Nandni Sharma

South Africa: Laura Wolvaardt (captain), Tazmin Brits, Annerie Dercksen, Dane van Niekerk, Marizanne Kapp, Nadine De Klerk, Chloe Tryon, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka and Nonkululeko Mlaba

–IANS

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