South Africa vs India, 6th ODI, Preview - Visitors seek total domination as Proteas play for pride

While the Proteas will have nothing but pride and form to play for, the visitors can go for the total domination.

Published - 15 Feb 2018, 14:30 IST | Updated - 15 Feb 2018, 14:30 IST

View : 1.1K

2 Min Read

Team India entered the record books after their thumping 73-run win against South Africa in the Port Elizabeth ODI. With the win, the Indians registered their first ever series win on the South African soil. Also, it was their first win at the venue in their 6 attempts. Interestingly, the ODI series itself has been a record shattering one for the visitors.

The Indian team broke their Durban and Port Elizabeth jinx in the series. And now, with a comfortable series win and lead of 4-1 in the six-match series, the stage is set for the ultimate showdown for them. By all means, the cricket pundits would term the game as the dead rubber since the result will not affect the proceedings of the series.

But, at the very same time, it is worth noting that a similar dead rubber in the Test series saw the Indian team strike gold with their form. Who knows, in all probability, a win for the hosts could mean a comeback to form for the upcoming T20I assignments post the ODI series. While the Proteas will have nothing but pride and form to play for, the visitors can go for the total domination.

Team India would want to finish the series on a high. As the Indian camp has been mentioning, they are keen on making it 5-1 in the series. Also, the match serves as an ideal ground for the Indian team to try their bench strength. The action moves to SuperSport Park, Centurion – the venue where India had beaten South Africa by 9 wickets earlier in the series. Expect a cracker of a game in the so called dead rubber that comes next.

Toss: India won the toss and opted to field

South Africa (Playing XI): Hashim Amla, Aiden Markram(c), AB de Villiers, Khaya Zondo, Farhaan Behardien, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Imran Tahir, Morne Morkel, Lungisani Ngidi

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni(w), Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal

Playing Combinations

South Africa

The hosts are likely to go ahead with the same batting lineup that they fielded in the previous game. Aiden Markram, the captain of the team, looks set as the opening partner of Hashim Amla. JP Duminy and AB de Villiers form a decent looking middle-order pair. David Miller has shown signs of good form in the last two ODIs and Heinrich Klaasen has been very impressive with the bat ever since the Pink ODI.

Considering the track at Centurion, the team might wish to tinker with their bowling combinations. Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, and Lungi Ngidi look sorted as the pace bowling trio. Andile Phehlukwayo fits in as an all-rounder. Unless, the team wants to fill in Chris Morris for his better batting skills. Tabraiz Shamsi could make way for Imran Tahir.

India

Team India have a brilliant chance to seal a thumping authority. However, they will be tempted to try out their bench strength in the match. The top three is likely to be same though. Rohit Sharma deserves an extra run after his centurion in PE. Shreyas Iyer could himself promoted to number four. Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane could make way for Manish Pandey.

Hardik Pandya, considering his poor run of form, can get another chance to get back amongst the runs. Also, MS Dhoni would want to leave an impression on the series. Kuldeep Yadav could be rested to accommodate Axar Patel in the playing eleven. Furthermore, Bhuvneswar Kumar can be rested to get in Mohammad Shami.

Head to Head

When it comes to the Head-to-Head records, the South African team is way ahead of the Indian side. Out of the 82 ODI matches that the two teams have competed in, the Proteas have won on 46 occasions. On the other hand, India has only 33 wins to their name, while 3 have been no results. However, it is worth noting that the Indian side has been in prime form in the recent times and the numbers are only a reflection of results aggregated over the years.

Focus will be on:

MS Dhoni

Veteran Indian batsman MS Dhoni has been under tremendous pressure as a batsman. In the last couple of ODIs, Dhoni has found himself in tough conditions when he was expected to fire in runs. However, he failed to finish off the innings for his team. With the wicket-keeping gloves, he has been in prime form. He just needs to up his game with the bat now.

Aiden Markram

South African stand-in skipper Aiden Markram had a big chance when he was handed over the captaincy at such an early stage in his career. However, he failed to set an example as a young leader. Also, his own performances with the bat have been far from being impressive. He needs to lead from the front to set an example for his team.

Stat Attack

2 – If South Africa lose in the 6th ODI too, it will be the second time they will lose as many as five matches in a series at home. Australia defeated South Africa 1-5 in the 7-match series in 2002.

33 – MS Dhoni needs 33 more runs to complete 10000 runs in ODI cricket.