Make-or-break for West Indies and India in semi-final race

In the afternoon, at 1.30pm GMT (2.30pm local), India and South Africa will face each other in Manchester, in what will be their first meeting in T20 World Cups. Like West Indies, India have won both their games, and if they beat South Africa, they will have one foot in the semi-finals. But given India are yet to play Australia, they can ill afford a defeat here. If South Africa win, they will be a strong contender for the knockouts, assuming they beat Netherlands and Bangladesh in their last two group games. For India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, this will be her 200th T20I, making her the first cricketer - male or female - to reach the mark. Role: Off-spinning allrounder, genuine lower-order hitter, gun fielder. Impact: She lets India play 2 seamers + 3 spinners while batting to No. 8/9. Without her, that structure breaks. Why it works: Left-arm orthodox spinner who can bat. Keeps the 2-3 combo intact: Renuka + Vastrakar/Pooja + Deepti + Radha + Sobhana/Asha. Batting depth: Radha at 8 keeps the tail long. No need to compromise spin-heavy plans for subcontinent/UAE pitches. Form: Been around the squad, experienced in ICC events. Safest pick. Who: Arundhati Reddy most likely – seam-bowling allrounder, hits a long ball. Why risky: Goes to 3-2 combo. On turning tracks you lose a spinner, and India’s strength is spin. Only makes sense if pitch is green or dew is huge. Trade-off: Better seam backup, but batting drops if you play a specialist like Meghna Singh instead of Arundhati. Sri Lanka are slowly coming out of Chamari Athapaththu's shadow, but they need their captain to stand tall in big games. And Bristol is the perfect venue for that - as Athapaththu posted on Instagram, it was the scene of her 178 not out against Australia in the 2017 ODI World Cup. Laura Wolvaardt has a great record against India in T20Is: 520 runs in 17 innings at an average of 40.00 and a strike rate of 142.07. With Sune Luus struggling for runs, the onus will be on the South Africa captain to give her side a good start. Sri Lanka vs West Indies will be the first match in Bristol this World Cup. It will be cloudy in the morning, so whoever wins the toss may want to bowl first. Manchester have hosted two matches so far; both were won by teams batting first. The India-South Africa game, though, will be played on a fresh pitch. The weather is expected to be partly cloudy with no chance of rain.