ODI Women's WC 2025: India eye third win in tournament; set to take on SA

Having dealt with two Asian neighbours convincingly the real test for the Indian women comes when they face nonAsian teams in their next four games at this ICC Womenrsquos World Cup beginning with the clash against a resurgent South Africa here on ThursdayHaving outplayed Sri Lanka and Pakistan India will be eager to continue their winning run and stay among the top two in the points table as their first objective will be to make the semifinalsHosts seek consistencyldquoWe are not looking that far we are taking one game at a time Our immediate focus is on the South African team We have to remain consistent and stick to our plans and get into top gear as we go deeper into the tournamentrdquo said Jemimah Rodrigues at the prematch media interactionJemimah Rodrigues bats in the nets at Vizag PicPTIOf course India cannot take South Africa lightly especially after how the Proteas overwhelmed New Zealand in Indore on Monday SA were outplayed by defending champions Australia in their opening game in Guwahati but made a strong comeback in Indore with their toporder coming into its own Their bowling was effective too Thus India have their task cut out and cannot be lackadaisical like they were against Pakistan in Colombo Though they won that match easily their fielding was belowpar with wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh spilling as many as four catches Besides her judgment when seeking the DRS left much to be desired as India lost both reviews by a long way very early in the gameIt will be interesting to see the combination India will deploy in the match here especially with a rain threat looming in the afternoonAn indisposed Amanjot Kaur was replaced with pace bowler Renuka Singh Thakur in Colombo In the absence of Amanjot who had done very well in the opening game the Indian thinktank had rejigged the batting order and brought Ghosh down the order to No 7 which proved beneficial against Pakistan as she added crucial runs at the fag end to help India post a challenging total India may consider bringing back Amanjot if she is fit again ldquoWe will have to wait and see if Amanjot is fit and if she fits into the scheme of things Our plan is to have batting as deep as No 7 and thatrsquos what the team management will look to dordquo Rodrigues said when asked about the allrounderSouth Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt PicAFPAll eyes however will be on opener Smriti Mandhana who has yet to produce a big one In fact in the two games only Deepti Sharma has managed a halfcentury a 53 against Sri Lanka Itrsquos time for the batter to fire bigtime Rodrigues said that the team is not worried by the lack of big scores by the top order ldquoIn the two games the lower order has contributed well with the bat Itrsquos just a matter of time we will have that perfect game going aheadrdquo SA rely on star batter BritsAs for South Africa Tazmin Brits struck a century against the White Ferns and she is their batting mainstay along with skipper Laura Wolvaardt The duo will have to bat out of their skin if they hope to put the hosts under pressure of a huge total The stage is thus set for a keen contest with the home team looking firm favourties especially after the way they have played in their first two games while South Africa seem eager to surprise the hosts33No of ODIs India and South Africa have played against each other India have won 20 Proteas 12 while one match was washed out