South Africa Women won the toss in Durban and opted to field first in the opening T20I against India, kicking off a five-match series that doubles as preparation for the upcoming Womenโs T20 World Cup 2026.ย
Meanwhile, Itโs the first time the two sides are meeting in this format since July 2024 and both enter with very different recent form lines. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side arrive on the back of four straight bilateral T20 series wins, including series victories in England and Australia, even though they missed out on the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
There are a couple of fresh faces in the Indian setup too, with Kashvee Gautam and Anushka Sharma handed maiden T20I call-ups, while the rest of the group remains largely settled. Among them, Anushka hasnโt been handed her debut cap.
South Africa, by contrast, are still trying to steady things after a tough tour of New Zealand last month. They lost heavily across both white-ball formats and have made only minor adjustments since then. Tebogo Macheke comes in for her first international appearance, while Eliz-Mari Marx replaces Masabata Klaas. Big names like Dane van Niekerk and Marizanne Kapp are not part of the squad.
India Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Kashvee Gautam, Shreyanka Patil, Renuka Singh Thakur, Shree Charani
South Africa Women (Playing XI): Tazmin Brits, Sune Luus, Laura Wolvaardt(c), Annerie Dercksen, Anneke Bosch, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Sinalo Jafta(w), Ayabonga Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nonkululeko Mlaba