SA vs IND, 2nd ODI, Preview: India's chance to extend the lead against the depleted hosts

South Africa would want to make a comeback but it won't be easy against the mighty Indians.

Published - 03 Feb 2018, 12:49 IST | Updated - 03 Feb 2018, 12:49 IST

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South Africa and India will face off in the second of the six-match ODI series at the Supersport Park in Centurion on Sunday. Not many would’ve given India the chance of leading after the first game post their second Test loss at the same venue. But they’ve come alive magnificently making a statement by chasing down 270 runs in the opening game of the series. However, Proteas would be eyeing to make a comeback and level the series before things go out of their hand.

South Africa lost wickets to the wrist-spinners of India in Durban after the openers had given them a decent start. They would love to resurrect their technique against the tweakers and come back stronger in the second match. The batsmen have to find ways to score runs against them and if they manage to do that, the course of the series will surely change. The bowlers tried their best to defend a below-par total and would need their batsmen to step up and give them some more runs to defend.

Men in Blue, on the other hand, are upbeat after breaking the 17-match winning streak of South Africa at home. They bowled well and looked to have all the bases covered in the opening game of the series. The batsmen thrive in the limited-overs format and look a completely different unit. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were spectacular with their wrist-spin variations and bamboozled the opposition by sharing 5 wickets between them. India would love to continue in the same vein and extend their lead.

Toss: India won the toss and elected to bowl

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

South Africa (Playing XI): Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram (captain), JP Duminy, David Miller, Khaya Zondo, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Morné Morkel, Tabraiz Shamsi, Imran Tahir

Playing Combination

South Africa

The things have gone from bad to worse for the home side as their skipper Faf du Plessis was ruled out of the ODI and the subsequent T20I series due to the finger injury he sustained during the first game. Farhan Behardien and Henrich Klaasen have been included in the squad now. The former will most likely be the player to replace the captain after putting up a decent show in the domestic One-Day Cup. The remainder of the playing XI won’t be changed unless last-minute injury forces them to do so.

Aiden Markram will lead the side in the absence of Du Plessis for the remainder of the series. It was a surprising pick by CSA as JP Duminy and David Miller could’ve been the front-runners for the role.

India

India endured a perfect start to the ODI leg of the series and they would be ecstatic after that. It is unlikely that they would be changing the winning combination. But the visitors would like to guard against gifting the wickets away as the number 1 ranking is up for grabs in this series. Shikhar Dhawan’s runout was unnecessary in the last match and that too just when he was looking good during his stay in the middle. Ajinkya Rahane also needs to be consistent and prove that the innings in Durban was not just a fluke and cement his position at number 4.

The bowling attack is once again up for the task and needs no tinkering at all.

Head to Head

Matches – 78 South Africa – 45 India – 30 N/R – 3

In Centurion – Played – 5 South Africa – 2 India – 2 N/R – 1

Focus will be on

Hashim Amla (South Africa)

Hashim Amla has looked uncharacteristically out of touch this season. Though he has been amongst runs in the Test series as well, runs haven’t come fluently as he would’ve liked. Moreover, in the absence of Du Plessis, he needs to take over the responsibility of the batting line-up and stay in the middle as much as he can. Even Amla knows he is a brilliant player of spin bowling and if he holds on to one end in the middle overs, others can bat around him. Also, it will put pressure on the Indians. Much will depend on his performance if South Africa are hoping to overcome this Indian juggernaut on Sunday.

Ajinkya Rahane (India)

Finally, India have gone back to Ajinkya Rahane to fill the void at the number 4 spot and he delivered immediately. He was looked at as the third opener on slow wickets but the skipper Virat Kohli showered praises on him when it came to tackling the fast bowling in the middle overs. Rahane also proved his captain right by scoring a fluent 79 when the team was in trouble and won the match. He played with a better strike rate than Kohli and needs to be consistent now to cement his position in the team ahead of the World Cup in England.