Since the beginning of the ODI series against Australia in Australia, the Indian team hasn’t been able to get their act together. Be it batting or bowling, and the worst-affected area, as usual, is fielding. But in their defence, one can say that the team has clearly been experimenting and trying to put together their best squad for the World Cup, so the losses can be acceptable to an extent. With three more games to go in this series and six in total before the World Cup, India will continue their experimentation, though the Johannesburg pitch wouldn’t be as slow as the Durban surface and should suit the Indian team.
South Africa, on the other hand, will come into the match with more confidence, having beaten India quite comfortably in the first two games. Laura Wolvaardt, at the toss in the last game, told the host broadcasters that they would experiment later in the series. With this being the third game and a chance to win the series, South Africa might go in with the same playing XI and make changes in the last two.
Players to watch out for
India
Shreyanka Patil: While her spin counterparts, the experienced Deepti Sharma and the young Sree Charani, are yet to impress on this tour, Shreyanka has been impressive. She has turned the ball and has looked like the only bowler troubling the South African batting line-up. In the two games, Shreyanka has bowled eight overs, picked up four wickets and conceded 61 runs, at an economy of 7.62. Interestingly, she has dismissed both South African openers, Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus, in both games. She has bowled in all three phases and has done fairly well. In the powerplay overs, she has bowled four overs, picked up a wicket and conceded 38 runs across both games. In the middle overs, she has bowled two overs, conceded just 11 runs and picked up a wicket, and her figures are identical in the death overs as well. If Shreyanka can make early inroads into the South African batting, which can be vulnerable to spin, she can set the game up for India.
South Africa
Tumi Sekhukhune: Tumi Sekhukhune is a slow medium pacer whom Indian batters find difficult to score off. The South African management is well aware of that. She was brought into the XI against India in Vizag during the 2025 ODI World Cup game, and it was one of those rare matches where she outperformed Marizanne Kapp. She did not do anything extraordinary; she simply kept bowling at the stumps, offering neither room nor pace for the batters. She finished with figures of 1/29 in seven overs, dismissing a set Pratika Rawal, which triggered a collapse as India lost five wickets for 19 runs. In this series, South Africa have persisted with Sekhukhune, and she has delivered, picking up five wickets in two games while conceding runs at just 7.25 runs per over. South Africa will rely on her to continue chipping away at wickets without leaking runs, which could help them seal the series in this game.
Head to Head in WT20Is
South Africa have narrowed the gap slightly since the last preview, but India still hold the advantage in WT20Is.
Matches: 21
India: 13
South Africa: 8
Probable Playing XI
India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Anushka Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Richa Ghosh (wk), Bharti Fulmali, Kashvee Gautam, N Sree Charani, Shreyanka Patil, Renuka Singh Thakur
South Africa: Tazmin Brits, Sune Luus, Laura Wolvaardt (c), Annerie Dercksen, Anneke Bosch, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Ayabonga Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nonkululeko Mlaba
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