India Vs South Africa 3rd ODI: Know The Indian Women Playing Eleven

India Vs South Africa third ODI: After notching up a series-leveling win in the second ODI at Lucknow, the Indian women’s cricket team is playing the third ODI match against South Africa on March 12. As the Indians would aim to take an upper hand as they square off against South Africa cricket team in the five-match series, here's who is playing in the match from our side today.

Captain Mithali Raj, who recorded the most international appearances in women’s cricket in the second ODI, is 62 runs short of the 7000-run mark in ODIs, which will make her the first woman to hit that mark. She also needs 35 more runs to join an exclusive list of women’s cricketers to have scored 10,000 international runs. She became the most capped female player in the history of international women’s cricket by recording her 310th appearance on Tuesday. Raj has played 10 tests, scoring 663 runs which include a double hundred (214) against England in Taunton in 2002. She has played 211 ODIs in total and as many as 82 T20Is for Team India.

The team's star batter Smriti Mandhana had scored an unbeaten 80 to help her side to a nine-wicket victory in the second match. “Whenever I go out to bat, I just have one target, and that is to make India win the match. And that’s the only thing I keep thinking about,” Mandhana said during a pre-match press conference.

Mandhana became the first player to score 10 consecutive 50s in ODI run chases but on the eve of the third ODI, the cricketer said she "got to know after the second ODI that I was the first to achieve the feat...”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=lFEQfFPIyko&feature=emb_title

She further said that the team's focus will be on fielding and fitness for the next one year as they prepare for the 50-over World Cup, scheduled to be played in New Zealand in 2022.

3rd ODI match between India Women vs South Africa Women on March 12, Friday

Raj's team suffered an eight-wicket defeat in the first ODI but bounced back in style in the second ODI with Mandhana (80*) and Punam Raut (62*)  taking the game away from the opposition.

Friday's match also marked the return of medium-pacer Mansi Josh.

The team India squad is as follows: Batswomen – Jemimah Rodrigues, Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur, D Hemalatha, Wicketkeeper – Sushma Verma, Bowlers –Veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, C Prathyusha and Swetha Verma, Monica Patel among others.