Ismail, the pace bowler, had not been a part of the team’s 2-2 draw in the Twenty20 International series and the 1-1 draw in the preceding one-day internationals owing to personal reasons, while Chetty, the wicket-keeper, had a back injury.

Cricket South Africa, in announcing the 15-member squad for the tournament starting 9 November, have retained the bulk of the squad from the recently concluded series. Tumi Sekhukhune, Robyn Searle and Saarah Smith, who all made their debuts in the Caribbean, have retained their places.

However, Ayabonga Khaka, the fast bowler, has not sufficiently recovered from her shoulder surgery and was not considered for selection, the selectors said.

Wishing the team luck at a press conference on Tuesday, 9 October, Thabang Moroe, CSA chief executive, said, “They reached the semi-final of this tournament in Bangladesh in 2014 and came agonisingly close to a first appearance in a final in last year’s ICC Women’s World Cup in England.

“The time has now arrived for [the team] to take that next step forward and get into the championship match.

“They can take a lot of justifiable confidence out of their recently completed tour of the West Indies where they drew both the ODI and T20 series against their hosts who are the defending champions for the ICC World T20.”

Since the squad was announced, the ICC announced that Raisibe Ntozakhe had been suspended from bowling for an illegal action. Should CSA name a replacement player prior to the start of the event support period on 2 November 2018, they will not require approval from the Event Technical Committee.

South Africa are in Group A, along with the Windies, England, Sri Lanka and qualifier winners Bangladesh. They play their first-round matches in St. Lucia.

Squad: Dané van Niekerk (c), Chloe Tryon, Lizelle Lee, Suné Luus, Shabnim Ismail, Masabata Klaas, Mignon du Preez, Marizanne Kapp, Laura Wolvaardt, Raisibe Ntozakhe, Zintle Mali, Robyn Searle, Tumi Sekhukhune, Saarah Smith, Trisha Chetty