South Africa (Women) vs Sri Lanka (Women) Prediction: Hosts the obvious favorites

The T20 Under 19’s World Cup signified that cricket administrators now realize the value of women’s cricket and want to give them exposure to quality competition at a young age. The Women’s Cricket has taken another leap with another T20 World Cup in the making. In this opening game of the Women’s World Cup, South Africa is going to take on Sri Lanka.

South Africa last played a couple of days in the warm-up game against Pakistan and won that battle by six wickets and ten balls remaining. In that game, Laura Woolvardt’s rollicking 65 runs in 42 balls innings gave the team a huge opening boost. The bowling of this squad is loaded with speedster Shabnim Ismail at the helm alongside another cracking seamer Marizanne Kapp. Ayobanga Khaka and Nadine de Klerk are superb seaming options too whereas Masabata Klaas has been a reliable spinner. The South African batting is under lens as they are without Lizelle Lee, Mignon du Preez, and Dane van Niekerk who had given the team a big boost in the past.

Sri Lankans last played against West Indies, losing the Warmup game in the last over. The bating was once again weak and the bowling unit was given just 108 runs to defend. One huge concern for the team has been the form of Chamari Athapattu, who has been their most reliable battle for them at the top. While Nilaksi and Kavisha have had some strong performances, the overall picture is bleak. Koolasuriya and Dilhari make for a strong bowling lineup but the batting support is paltry.

The Africans have a significant advantage here, playing at home. This has been a tricky period for selectors who have been questioned after leaving out Niekerk on the basis of an 18-second lag in finishing the 2 kilometers circuit. Still, the team holds all the cards and I expect them to win big.