South Africa vs India, 5th ODI – Match Predictions

South Africa’s fortunes changed with the arrival of AB de Villiers as they managed to secure a 5-wicket win in front of a jam-packed Wanderers in the 4th ODI to keep the series alive. India had the opportunity to seal the deal as they were in a winning position at one stage in the game. Some sloppy work by the bowlers as well as the fielders let them down and allowed the Proteas to chase down what was a pretty reasonable target in a rain-curtailed game.

The loss was probably a bit of a wake-up call for the visitors as it was all going way too easy for them before that. It was the first time in the series that the Indian wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were attacked and now it will be a test of character for them going forward.

Probable nature of the pitch

The pitch at St George’s Park generally assists the fast bowlers, but it’s a sporting surface and there is no reason why a batsman applies himself, can’t score runs there. It’s actually a good surface to bat on once you are set because of its hard nature and true bounce.

Batting first will be a no-brainer as with the breeze setting in and the atmosphere getting cooler in the evening, the surface will quicken up a touch and will help the quicks get the ball fizz through which is something always desirable from a fast bowling point of view.

The average total in the three List A matches played this year has been 267 and every time, the team batting first has won which tells that chasing is not something you want to do at this venue. The captain winning the toss is likely to prefer to bat first.

Playing Combination

India

India surprised everyone by picking Shreyas Iyer ahead of Manish Pandey for the no. 6 slot which was vacant because of Kedar Jadhav’s injury. While Iyer had presented his case pretty strongly in the series against Sri Lanka, he is a top-order batsman and slotting him at no. 5 made little sense.

The team management probably backed Iyer’s back foot stroke play to come good on the bouncy surface of Bullring, but the move didn’t work. The right-hander looked hurried at the crease and the pressure eventually got to him as he got out playing a pretty average shot.

However, dropping Iyer after just one game will be unfair on the youngster and Virat Kohli won’t do it. The Mumbai lad, in all likelihood, should be getting another go.

The rest of the Indian XI pick themselves. There are no changes on the cards despite a not so good performance in the last game. Rohit Sharma’s form is a matter of concern for the visitors, but he has been fairly consistent in white ball cricket in the last few years and there is no way the team management won’t back him to deliver in the remaining part of the series.

Predicted XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal

South Africa

The South Africans came up with a nearly complete performance on the Pink ODI and they should be going with an unchanged XI. Although AB de Villiers couldn’t play a big knock coming back the other night, he showed how his presence gives a completely different look to the Proteas middle order.

The disdain with which AB smashed Chahal at the very start of his spell was something which would have sent a real positive message back into the locker room. He would look to stay longer at the crease on Tuesday and face a large chunk of the spells of the two wrist spinners as he is easily the best-equipped guy from the South African camp to tackle them.

One thing that South Africa will want to do better is to try and get into India’s middle order early with the ball. India are a top-heavy side and if two out of their top 3 falls early, that will put the hosts on the driver’s seat. The onus will be on Kagiso Rabada and the veteran Morne Morkel to nail the right areas with the white cherry and get those crucial breakthroughs inside the first 10 overs.

Predicted XI: Hashim Amla, Aiden Markram (C), JP Duminy, AB de Villiers, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Lungi Ngidi

Here is what we at CricTracker predict for the game:

Probable Top Performers

AB de Villiers (South Africa) | Yuzvendra Chahal (India)

Head to Head

Total games played – 81| South Africa won – 46| India won – 32| N/R – 3

Timing of the match: 04:30 pm IST, 11:00 am GMT, 01:00 pm Local Time

Broadcast Details

TV – Sony Ten 1 (English Commentary), Sony Ten 3 (Hindi Commentary)

Live streaming – SonyLIV

The prediction is for India to win the match and take a 4-1 lead in the series.

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