mithali raj, womens cricket
India women's cricket teamVipin Patel/IANS

India women's cricket team, led by a sensational batting performance from Smriti Mandhana, won the three-match ODI series against South Africa Women with a 2-1 score. The battle now takes place in the Twenty 20 format.

Harmanpreet Kaur is the captain for the India Women's cricket team in the T20Is.

21-year-old Smriti scored a total of 219 runs in the first two ODI matches but failed in the 3rd one as she got out on a duck. Mithali Raj's women army also lost the last ODI, and it gave Dane van Niekerk's women the momentum entering the five-match T20I series, starting Tuesday February 13.

Nontheless, India will be confident after the ODI series win. Notably, the Women in Blue defeated their South African counterparts by 16 runs in their only previous T20I meeting in November 2014 at Bengaluru. 

smriti mandhana, womens cricket
Smriti MandhanaStu Forster/Getty

India have suffered a big blow as fast bowler Jhulan Goswami has been ruled out of the series with a foot injury. The 35-year-old veteran cricketer, whose biopic is named 'Chakdaha Express', made history during the ODI series by becoming the first woman cricketer in the world to pick up a total of 200 ODI wickets.

Jhulan Goswami

T20I squads

India Women: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Anuja Patil, Taniya Bhatia, Nuzhat Parween, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav.

South Africa Women: Dane van Niekerk (C), Marizanne Kapp, Trisha Chetty, Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Sune Luus, Odine Kirsten, Mignon du Preez, Lizelle Lee, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Raisibe Ntozakhe, Moseline Daniels.

1st T20I: South Africa Women vs India Women

Date: February 12

Time: 1 pm local (4:30 pm IST)

Venue: Senwes Park, Potchefstroom

No TV broadcast in India

Live streaming: YouTube

Live scores, updates: HERE

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