FANTASY
Follow UsAfter a span of a year, India Women will be in action as they take on South Africa Women in the first match in a five-match One-Day International (ODI) series at the Ekana Stadium, Lucknow on Sunday (March 7). South Africa, on the other hand, have played more frequently compared to India and were most recently in action against Pakistan at home in February this year. When it comes to the head-to-head record, India have been the more dominant side over South Africa, having won 14 of 22 encounters. Even in the last five matches, India have the advantage, having won four and lost just one.
ODI HEAD-TO-HEAD
Overall: Matches – 22 | India – 14 Wins | South Africa – 7 Wins | 1 No Result
Last 5 Matches: India – 4 Wins | South Africa – 1 Win
Suggested Teams
Ground Details & Team Combination
Only three (Men’s) ODIs have been played at the Ekana Cricket Stadium. In those matches, a wicket has fallen every 32.8 runs and 42.9 deliveries apart. Spinners have had more of the wicket-share (55%) than pacers (45%), but it is the fast bowlers who have picked up wickets more regularly than the spinners, striking once every 40.3 deliveries, compared to the tweakers, who pick up a wicket every 45 balls.
The average first innings score at this venue has been 230, while the average score for those batting second is 217. Harmanpreet Kaur, in her press conference, said that the wicket at the Ekana is a good surface and she expects a high-scoring game. We could very well have a score in excess of 260-270 in the first ODI on Sunday.
Captain Selection
Smriti Mandhana has scored the most runs for India in ODIs since 2019. In seven innings, she has slammed 423 runs at 70.5 and at an impressive strike-rate of 94.6, which includes four fifties and a century. In the most recent tournament – the Women’s T20 Challenge – the southpaw scored 107 runs from three innings to help Trailblazers win the title. She could be quite a handful in the top-order.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Mandhana could score 21-54 runs in this match.
X-Factors
South Africa opening batter Laura Wolvaardt has been in decent form in ODIs over the last few matches. Since 2020, she has scored 242 runs at 48.39, which includes a couple of fifties from her six innings. She got off to starts in all three matches in the previous season against Pakistan with scores of 40, 27 and 58 and that holds her in good stead for this series against India. She has played three matches in India in which she has scored 131 runs at 43.66. She is also just four runs short of becoming just the fifth South Africa woman to complete 2,000 ODI runs.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Wolvaardt could score 16-49 runs in this match.
Marizanne Kapp has been terrific with both ball and bat for South Africa. She has picked up eight wickets at 20.1 and with the bat, she has scored 131 runs at a strike-rate of 97.8 in ODIs since 2020. She put in a Player of the Match performance in her previous match against Pakistan, in which she scored an unbeaten 45-ball 68 and picked up three wickets as well.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Kapp could score 8-33 runs and pick up 0-1 wicket in this match.
India all-rounder Deepti Sharma had an excellent Women’s T20 Challenge, which included three wickets and an useful unbeaten 43 as well. She has been a handy contributor for India with the bat over the years. Since 2019, she has taken 15 wickets at an economy rate of under four. She is no mug with the bat either, having scored 137 runs at a shade under 20 from 11 innings.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Deepti could score 14-39 runs and pick up 0-1 wicket in this match.
