When and Where to Watch India Women vs South Africa Women, Live Streaming, Match Preview, Timings, and Pitch Report for 5th ODI

With the series gone to South Africa, India Women will step out to play for pride in the last ODI of the five-match series. Not even a belligerent century from Punam Raut could save the hosts in the previous game as a somewhat inexperienced bowling attack was countered easily by the South African top-order, where each of the top four managed a half-century.

To the little extent that form exists in COVID-19 times, India Women came into the series with no cricket behind them in the year gone by, having last played in March 2020 at Melbourne in the fateful final of the Women’s T20 World Cup. In contrast, South Africa had the chance to oil themselves in the recent series at home against Pakistan, and they did so convincingly, clean sweeping the opponents 3-0.

Prior to the series, skipper Mithali Raj had laid emphasis on how India needs to reach the 270-run mark, if they aim to win against tougher sides such as Australia and New Zealand, however, the team has not quite managed to come to that mark, barring the previous fixture (266/4).

While the batting performance – apart from the expectedly rusty return to cricket after a year-long gap in the first game, when India mustered merely 177/9 – has not been a real letdown, the bowling has been, to some extent, as Raj admitted after the loss in the 4th ODI.

Quite clearly, having rested Shikha Pandey, India is depleted in their seam bowling reserves, and the absence of the veteran Jhulan Goswami, who missed the previous game owing to an injury, their bowling stocks only decreased further. Left-arm seamer Monica Patel, on ODI debut, was guilty of leaking too many at the start of her spell, and South Africa‘s stand-in captain Laura Wolvaardt and Lizelle Lee were quick to pounce on the scoring opportunities, setting up the job for Mignon du Preez and Lara Goodall to take them to a 3-1 lead in the series.

With Poonam Yadav, the senior leg-spinner, struggling to get herself amongst the wickets and Rajeshwari Gayakwad managing lukewarm returns, the series has not reaped any sweet fruits for Indian spinners either. With the bat, the form of Jemimah Rodrigues – her scores in the series are 1, 9, and 0 – has been concerning, and skipper Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur have done the heavy-lifting for the team.

On the other hand, South Africa has managed to fire in unison, with opener Lizelle Lee managing piles of runs, getting a fair bit of assistance from Laura Wolvaardt and Lara Goodall, and pacer Shabnim Ismail shining with the ball. Having claimed the series already, the final clash will be South Africa’s chance to rubber-stamp their authority over India. That said, Indian women have a certain precedent not too old to draw inspiration from: the second ODI of the series when they comprehensively outshone the visitors to bring the series at a level.

Pitch and conditions

After two low-scoring affairs at the start of the series, the following two encounters have both been one where the batswomen have had the edge. Incidentally, all the four games hitherto have witnessed the chasers emerge victoriously. Another batting-friendly track can be expected for the final encounter of the series.

Playing combination for India Women vs South Africa Women

India Women

India evidently missed the presence of Jhulan Goswami in the last game. If she regains fitness, she is a default entrant into the eleven.

Predicted XI: Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Mithali Raj (C), Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Sushma Verma (WK), Poonam Yadav, Jhulan Goswami/Radha Yadav, Mansi Joshi

South Africa Women

It is unlikely that the visitors will tinker with their winning combination.

Predicted XI: Lizelle Lee, Laura Wolvaardt (C), Mignon du Preez, Lara Goodall, Anne Bosch Sinalo Jafta (WK), Nondumiso Shangase, Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Marizanne Kapp, Tumi Sekhukhune.

India Women vs South Africa Women Head to Head

Played – 26 | India Women – 15 | South Africa Women – 10 | NR- 1

India Women vs South Africa Women Broadcast Details

Match Timings – 9:00 AM

TV – Star Sports Network

Live Streaming – Disney+Hotstar VIP