Colombo, Oct 21: A semifinal berth already sealed, South Africa will look to maintain their winning momentum and enhance their chances of a top-two finish in the group stage when they take on Pakistan in the ICC Women’s World Cup here on Tuesday.Colombo’s weather may play spoilsport again and the Proteas women, who now have eight points in their kitty, would want to add two more points to their kitty before the end of league engagement.
That will help them avoid Australia in the semifinals. Australia look favourite to finish as table toppers, who will clash with the fourth-placed team.South Africa’s Net Run Rate (NRR) is -0.440 which is much inferior to India’s +0.526. However India after three consecutive defeats can only reach up to 8 points.All eyes will be on the sky on Tuesday due to multiple wash-outs in Colombo so far that has put ICC’s decision under scanner to host the games in Sri Lankan capital at this time of the year.
Out of nine games in Colombo, five didn’t produce result due to inclement weather. On paper, Pakistan are no match for South Africa even though Fatima Sana’s team did win an ODI in the bilateral series that served as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup.With skipper Fatima and veteran Diana Baig, the bowling does have some firepower on the slowish tracks at the Premadasa Stadium but the batting unit doesn’t have the wherewithal to chase any total in excess of 175.