Meso, Naidu and Smit earn maiden South Africa ODI call-ups for tri-series

New Delhi(The Uttam Hindu):  Karabo Meso, Seshnie Naidu and Miane Smit have earned maiden South Africa ODI team call-ups for the upcoming women’s tri-series, scheduled from April 27 to May 11 in Sri Lanka. The tri-series is set to be held at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo. It will see South Africa play round-robin matches against hosts Sri Lanka and India. Karabo and Seshnie featured in this year’s ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup and have already entered the senior T20I women’s team. Miane, on the other hand, was a travelling reserve at last year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, where South Africa finished as runners-up.

"We’ve taken a measured and strategic approach in selecting this ODI squad, bearing in mind the conditions we’ll be playing in and the nature of our opposition. The decision to go with four seamers and five to six spin options is reflective of our assessment of the surfaces, where we believe a balanced attack will be key to success. “This ODI series forms a critical part of our build-up to the World Cup. It’s about building depth, enhancing role clarity, and ensuring that every player is clear on their contribution towards our collective goals,” said Clinton du Preez, convenor of selectors.

Nondumiso Shangase also makes her return to the ODI squad for the first time since last year’s tour of India. The quartet have been included in the ODI squad at the expense of seamer Ayanda Hlubi, wicketkeeper Mieke de Ridder and opening batter Lara Goodall. As previously stated by Cricket South Africa (CSA), experienced all-rounder Marizanne Kapp will not be a part of the tri-series as she continues her conditioning block in preparation for the subsequent tours and the ODI World Cup in India.

“It's a very good squad. The mixture of youth and experience helps. It's an opportunity for these girls to show what they can do. Hopefully, whatever we've covered at the camp can be applied in Sri Lanka when we take the field. For me, it's not an opportunity for Karabo, Miané and Seshnie anymore. “It's an opportunity for us to give them exposure at this level. Going forward and for the bigger picture, it's important that we expose them as much as possible to international cricket. This tour is an opportunity for us to check where the team is at. “It's a work in progress. We want to get to a point where when we get to India in September, we are where we need to be as a team. But from a skill point of view, there's still a bit of work to do, and that's what we're busy with at the moment," said head coach Mandla Mashimbyi. South Africa squad for tri-series: Laura Wolvaardt (Captain), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Sinalo Jafta, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Suné Luus, Karabo Meso, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Seshnie Naidu, Nondumiso Shangase, Miané Smit and Chloé Tryon