In Match 10 of the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, a rampant Team India face South Africa, who are looking to make up for a horror show in their opening game.
While the co-hosts have already picked up two wins from as many games, the Proteas have also found some form after the England loss with a strong win against New Zealand.
For this game, here are our preview and predictions.
India have looked well settled thus far with two wins in two and have been slowly checking off all the boxes. Most of their batters have spent a good amount of time in the middle and got some runs under their belt.
That said, if there’s one thing captain Kaur would like from her batters, it’s to convert more of their starts into big scores. Last time out, on a tough Colombo strip, the likes of Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma dug deep, and it was Richa Ghosh’s explosive 35* towards the end that saw India get close to 250.
With the ball, young Kranti Goud has been leading the attack, while the spinners have given absolutely nothing away and have been the leading wicket-takers in the Indian squad.
South Africa, on the other side, bounced back incredibly after their 69-all-out show against England. Nonkululeko Mlaba’s four-wicket haul, along with economical spells from Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, and Nadine de Klerk, saw South Africa bundle New Zealand out for 231, and while their captain Laura Wolvaardt missed out with the bat, Tazmin Brits and Suné Luus’ 159-run stand — including a stunning century from Brits — saw the Proteas get their first points on the board.
This is the first game of the World Cup at Visakhapatnam and the first women’s ODI at the ground since 2014. The Vizag ground has generally been a high-scoring one with assistance for the quick bowlers. South Africa’s win against New Zealand will give them the confidence to put up a big fight here, even though the Women in Blue start as the favourites in what should be a high-scoring game for a change.
Fantasy XI: Smriti Mandhana (C), Laura Wolvaardt (vc), Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur, Sune Luus, Tazmin Brits, Marizanne Kapp, Sinalo Jafta (wk) Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh, Kranti Goud
Venue: Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam
Winners Prediction: India
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