India’s tour of South Africa will see off with a thrilling encounter as both the teams will give it all to win the final T20 and clinch the T20 series. Things have went the way of Virat Kohli led side after a test series lost. Indian team has dominated in the ODI format, eventually winning it by 5-1. They started T20 series on good note by winning the 1st match of the series. However, South Africa had some other plans as they pulled one back to level the series. India will look to close out on the 8 week long tour of South Africa by winning the 3rd T20 at Newlands against the depleted but not completely deflated JP Duminy led side.
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The Newlands pitch had played slow during the ODI series, the wicket will turn out to be on the slower side yet again which will offer no help to the spinners. It will still turn out to be a batting paradise and 180+ looks all possible for the team batting first.
South Africa will highly depend on their captain JP Duminy to play the anchor role in the batting line up, lot of expectations will again be from Heinrich Klaasen, who is turning out to be a nightmare for Indian spinners. On the other hand, they will want a better performance from Chris Morris and Junior Dala in the bowling department.
India will again rely on their openers to provide a solid base at the start, which will act as a building block from the downtown batsman. Rohit Sharma’s form has been a concern, but lot of expectations will again rest on his shoulders. In the bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah’s injury is a concern for Indian team management, and they will not take any chances with Nihadas T20 trophy scheduled in two weeks time from now. Kuldeep may come in place of Yuzvendra Chahal, who went for runs in the last match.
Trivia
- The tour started in Newlands with the first test match and will end at the same venue with the last T20.
- India has never played a T20 International match at Newlands.
- South Africa doesn’t enjoy a great record at the venue, having lost 5 of their encounters out of the 8 matches.
Teams for 3rd T20 at Newlands
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur.
South Africa: JP Duminy (capt), Farhaan Behardien, Junior Dala, Reeza Hendricks, Christiaan Jonker, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Chris Morris, Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jon-Jon Smuts.
3rd T20 at Newlands starts at: 9.30 pm IST.
