India ready for Proteas in key encounter

India’s Veda Krishnamurthy is confident her side can keep up the perfect record at the Women’s World Cup when they take on South Africa at Grace Road in Leicester on Saturday.

Having beaten England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the West Indies, victory against South Africa would see India progress to the semifinal.

Krishnamurthy believes India hold the upper hand against South Africa and know their strengths and weaknesses.

“We’re confident because in the last 4-5 games we have played against them, we have done well. We are aware of their team, we know what combinations and players are there, so we can play according to our strengths,” she said.

South Africa, who currently sit fifth on the points table with two wins, a defeat and washout, are looking to bounce back after losing to England after the hosts scored the fifth-highest score in Women’s World Cup history to win by 68 runs.

Captain Dane van Niekerk believes her bowlers can reproduce the form that saw them bowl West Indies out for 48.

“Our bowlers don’t like getting hit. I am sure they will come back firing so I’m excited to see what they will do in the next few days and how they are going to go about their work. It doesn’t mean their skills have gone away in just one game, and it doesn’t mean the West Indies game was a fluke,” she said.

Individually, South Africa are good, but when it comes to collective performance, they depend on main players to do well. VEDA KRISHNAMURTHY, On the comparison