Visakhapatnam. The last match of the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa is to be played on 6 December (Saturday) at the Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. This match is going to be decisive for both the teams. Whichever team wins this match will win the series. The Indian team had won the Ranchi ODI by 17 runs. Then South Africa won the Raipur ODI by 4 wickets. The third ODI will start at 1.30 pm Indian time.
In this match, fans will also keep an eye on the playing 11 of both the teams. The Indian team lost the last match, yet captain KL Rahul is unlikely to make any changes in the playing eleven. That means Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel and Tilak Verma may have to sit on the bench once again. Virat Kohli, who has scored two consecutive centuries, would like to show a strong performance in this match for the Indian team. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will also be eager to make a splash with the bat.
Batting at number 4 in Raipur ODI, Rituraj Gaikwad had scored a brilliant century. His innings were almost similar to the way Virat Kohli plays. The shots played by Rituraj were very classic and controlled. Prasidh Krishna had given 85 runs in the last match, but the problem is that the Indian team does not have the option of specialist fast bowler in the squad. Therefore, the Indian team will not take the risk of removing him and including an all-rounder because it would be a weak option in place of a specialist bowler.
What changes will happen in South Africa?
In the second ODI, South African batsman Tony de Jorzi and fast bowler Nandra Berger suffered hamstring injuries. Because of this both the players had to leave the field. Hamstring injury does not heal quickly. In such a situation, it is almost certain that both these players will not be available in this match. In Vizag ODI, fast bowler Otniel Bartman can be included in the playing-11 in place of Burger. Whereas Ryan Rickelton can be seen playing in place of Jorji.
In the last two ODI matches, the pitch at Visakhapatnam has shown two different types of pictures. In December 2019, India scored 387 runs against West Indies. But in March 2023, Australia had all out India for just 117 runs. That means this ground is sometimes very high-scoring and sometimes very bowling-friendly. This time there has been no weather related hindrance or problem in preparing the pitch. Therefore, it is expected that the pitch will be as high scoring as it was in 2019, meaning it will be more helpful for the batsmen. The temperature in Visakhapatnam will be slightly warmer than Ranchi and Raipur, but overall it will be comfortable to play cricket.
India’s probable playing-11 in the third ODI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (captain/wicketkeeper), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna.
Probable playing-11 of South Africa in the third ODI: Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Temba Bavuma (captain), Matthew Britzke, Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brewis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi and Otniel Bartman.
India’s full squad: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (wk/c), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), Tilak Verma, Dhruv Jurel and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
South Africa’s squad: Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (captain), Matthew Bretzke, Dewald Brewis, Tony De Jorzi, Marco Janssen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Berger, Lungi Ngidi, Ryan Rickelton, Otneil Baartman, Rubin Harman and Prenlan Subraine.
Comments are closed.