21 June,2026 07:40 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Harmanpreet Kaur (Pic: X/@BCCIWomen)
In the Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match against South Africa, Team India's skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has won the toss and elected to bat first at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Greater Manchester.
The "Women in Blue" will enter the clash with two changes, where Prema Rawat will make her debut by replacing Shreyanka Patil, and Arundhati Reddy will come in place of Kranti Gaud.
After winning the toss, Team India's skipper Harmanpreet said, "We want to bat. I think it's a good pitch and if we bat first, we could get a result that will help us to win the game. [On the pitch at Old Trafford] I think it's a very good pitch. The only thing is we have to give some time in the middle and then we can take the game ahead. [On becoming the first player to play 200 T20 Internationals] 200 games, I think, honestly, it's been an amazing journey. I never thought I'll come that far, but I think God has been kind and I'm really thankful to him and to my family, friends, BCCI, all my teammates. They've been really supportive. [On playing in front of a sellout crowd] I think they've been our biggest support. Hopefully we'll entertain them. [On team changes] Shreyanka is missing because of her injury. In place of her, Prema is going to make her debut. And we have one more change. Kranti is resting today. Arundhati is playing. [On her message to debutant Prema] Just to enjoy. I think I'm more nervous playing 200th game and she is someone who looks very calm and hopefully she'll enjoy the game".
On the other hand, South Africa has also made two changes. Tazmin Brits will replace Sune Luus, whereas Dane Van Niekerk will come in place of Kayla Reyneke.
South Africa's captain Laura Wolvaardt said, "We probably would have batted as well. Yeah, pretty big game for us. We would have liked to put some runs on the board, but hopefully we can restrict them. [On the importance of the match and the team's mindset] Yeah, try not to think about the outcome too much. I think we all know sort of what's at stake today. So just try and take one ball at a time, stay really present. And I feel like if we play our best cricket, we'll come out on top today. [On confidence from recent results against India] Yeah, definitely. I think it's nice to have won against them pretty recently, but they probably have gotten the better of us at World Cups recently. So, yeah, hopefully we can get them back today. [On team changes] We've got two changes. Dan (van Niekerk) and Taz (Britt) are back in, and Sune (Luus) and Kayla (Reyneke) are missing out today. [On the reason for the changes] Yeah, we just thought it was the best combination to go with today. Obviously, usually a bit slower here, so we thought we'd bring in some batters who are really good against the spin. So hopefully that works today".
India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Richa Ghosh (WK), Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Sree Charani, Nandni Sharma.
South Africa: 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.
