India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur became the first cricketer (male or female) ever to play 200 T20Is as she took the field during the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 encounter against South Africa on Sunday. New Zealand’s Suzie Bates is second in the list with 184, Danni Wyatt-Hodge third with 183 followed by Ellyse Perry with 177 appearances. For India, Smriti Mandhana has played 169 T20Is. When it comes to men’s T20Is, Ireland’s Paul Sterling (163) leads the way, followed by Rohit Sharma (159).
Meanwhile, Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bat first against South Africa in their Women’s T20 World Cup match.
“We want to bat. I think it’s a good pitch and if we bat first, we could get a result that will help us to win the game. [On the pitch at Old Trafford] I think it’s a very good pitch. The only thing is we have to give some time in the middle and then we can take the game ahead. [On becoming the first player to play 200 T20 Internationals] 200 games, I think, honestly, it’s been an amazing journey. I never thought I’ll come that far, but I think God has been kind and I’m really thankful to him and to my family, friends, BCCI, all my teammates. They’ve been really supportive.”
“[On playing in front of a sellout crowd] I think they’ve been our biggest support. Hopefully we’ll entertain them. [On team changes] Shreyanka is missing because of her injury. In place of her, Prema is going to make her debut. And we have one more change. Kranti is resting today. Arundhati is playing. [On her message to debutant Prema] Just to enjoy. I think I’m more nervous playing 200th game and she is someone who looks very calm and hopefully she’ll enjoy the game,” Harmanpreet said at toss.
In the Indian XI, Prema Rawat came in for the injured Shreyanka Patil, while Kranti Gaud has been rested and Arundhati Reddy is playing in her place.
Dane van Niekerk and Tazmin Brits are playing in place of Sune Luus and Kayla Reyneke respectively in the South African side.
Teams:
India: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, N Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma.
South Africa: Laura Wolvaardt, Tazmin Brits, Dane van Niekerk, Marizanne Kapp, Nadine de Klerk, Chloe Tryon, Sinalo Jafta, Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeko Mlaba.
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