India captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa in a crucial Group A clash of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester on Sunday.
The Women in Blue have boosted their semi-final hopes with back-to-back wins over Pakistan and the Netherlands and can move a step closer to the knockout stage with another victory. South Africa, meanwhile, is in a must-win situation as they look to stay firmly in contention for the semi-finals.
The match also marks a historic occasion for Harmanpreet, who becomes the first cricketer, male or female, to play 200 T20 Internationals. Ahead of the milestone, teammates Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma, along with head coach Amol Muzumdar, described the achievement as “unbelievable” and “phenomenal.”
While India will bank on Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma to provide a strong start before Harmanpreet, Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh take charge in the middle order, South Africa will look to their experienced bowling attack led by Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka and Shabnim Ismail.
IND-W vs SA-W T20 World Cup: Playing XIs
India Women: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Sree Charani, Nandini Sharma.
South Africa Women: Laura Wolvaardt (c), Tazmin Brits, Annerie Dercksen, Dane van Niekerk, Marizanne Kapp, Nadine de Klerk, Chloe Tryon, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeko Mlaba.