India and South Africa clear in their objectives as they face off in ICC Women's Championship

Mithali Raj ()

Feb.4 (CRICKETNMORE) - South Africa and India will launch their bids to qualify directly for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2021 when they square-off against each other in a first round fixture of the ICC Women’s Championship next week with memories of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 still fresh in their minds.

Kimberley will be the venue of the 5 and 7 February ODIs, while the series will finish with the final match in Potchefstroom on 10 February. At the backend of the ODI series, the two sides will play five T20Is, which will not count towards the ICC Women’s Championship, but will have an impact on the ICC Women’s Team Rankings on which India is presently ranked fourth and South Africa sixth.

When the two sides met in the inaugural edition of the ICC Women’s Championship in Bengaluru in November 2014, South Africa had won the series 2-1. When the two sides met again in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Sri Lanka in February 2017 after failing to finish in the top four of the ICC Women’s Championship, India beat South Africa by 49 runs in a Super Six match and then in the final by one wicket.

In the ICC Women’s World Cup match in Leicester in July 2017, South Africa were comfortable winners by 115 runs. While next week’s matches promise to be exciting and well-contested affairs, rival captains still had last year’s groundbreaking tournament in their minds.

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ICC Media Release