SA vs IND: 3rd ODI Preview – Pride at stake for KL Rahul and co

Despite all the hype around the three-match ODI series, India have been completely outplayed by South Africa in all three departments so far. As the hosts have already won the first two games, the third one is a dead rubber.

However, the Rahul-led side would want to salvage some pride and end the series on a high. So far, they have looked bleak and not many things have gone their way. Moreover, barring Jasprit Bumrah, the Indian bowlers haven’t been able to trouble the opposition batters.

On the other hand, the Proteas have been on a roll and won the first two one-dayers rather comfortably. While their batters have fired, watching Janneman Malan and Aiden Markram get amongst the runs must have definitely been satisfying for their team management. However, the only complaint their skipper Temba Bavuma might have is that their pacers have leaked runs in the initial overs of both the ODIs so far.

As for their spinners, Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj have been fairly decent, to say the least. Thus, the visitors will need to play carefully during the middle overs because, in both the games in Paarl, they lost crucial wickets during that phase. Thus, the final game of the 50-over series might turn out to be a close contest between bat and ball.

Match Info:

South Africa vs India 3rd ODI

Venue: Newlands, Cape Town

Start date and time: January 23 2022 at 2:00 PM IST

Playing Combinations:

Predicted XIs for 3rd ODI:

South Africa

The Bavuma-led side wouldn’t want to change a winning combination. However, as Sisanda Magala wasn’t impressive on his debut, Marco Jansen might return to the XI

Predicted XI: Janneman Malan, Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi

India

As Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been below-average in both the one-dayers, Deepak Chahar is expected to replace him. Another change that is on the cards is that of Shreyas Iyer, who has failed in both games.

Predicted XI: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, R Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal