With the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 scheduled to take place in India later this year, the SA Women’s team are stepping up their preparations. They will be participating in a Tri-Series against Sri Lanka and India in Colombo.
All Tri-Series matches will be held at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, with the three teams playing each other twice. The top two sides will then meet in the final on Sunday, 11 May — the perfect preparation for the World Cup.
The first match will see the hosts play India on Sunday 27 April, while the Proteas will open their campaign against India on Tuesday, 29 April.
Significance of Playing In the Sub-Continent
Head coach Mandla Mashimbyi stressed the significance of playing in the subcontinent ahead of the global showpiece. “When you look at India and Sri Lanka in their own
conditions, you would rather play those teams there so you can understand what is needed for you to succeed in those types of conditions.”
“Hopefully we can take the learnings out of these tours straight into the World Cup in October and be a lot better at executing the plans and executing from a skill point of view as well,” he said.
The tour will also mark South Africa’s first trip to Sri Lanka since the 2017 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers where they narrowly lost by one wicket to India in the final.
Mashimbyi to Use Tri-Series to Provide Opportunities for Players
In his first full tour as head coach after officially taking over during the inbound England tour in December last year, Mashimbyi and his support staff will use the series to refine combinations and provide opportunities for players.
“It’s going to be key for us to find the right combinations going into the World Cup after that. This tour will allow us to check which combinations work best for those conditions.”
“Also, we want to give opportunities to players that I haven’t seen much of. It’s a good tour to give those players opportunities. At the same time, we still want to win, so it’s important to find that balance between exposure and ensuring we have a team that will fight till the end,” he added.
South Africa Looking to Improve against Sri Lanka and India
South Africa heads into the series looking to improve on recent One-Day International (ODI) results against Sri Lanka and India. The Proteas shared a drawn series against Sri Lanka in April last year, while India dominated their last bilateral series with a 3-0 win in Bangalore.
Fixtures – ODI Tri-Series
- Sunday, 27 April – 1st ODI – Sri Lanka vs India (R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo)
- Tuesday, 29 April – 2nd ODI: India vs South Africa (R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo)
- Thursday, 01 May – 3rd ODI: Sri Lanka vs South Africa (R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo)
- Sunday, 04 May – 4th ODI: Sri Lanka vs India (R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo)
- Tuesday, 06 May – 5th ODI: South Africa vs India (R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo)
- Thursday, 08 May – 6th ODI: Sri Lanka vs South Africa (R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo)
- Sunday, 11 May – Final: 1st Place vs 2nd Place (R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo)
