South Africa vs India: Match Preview

India, losing the first ODI will be eyeing up for two successive wins to win the ODI series as well as level the tour series.

The hosts are leading with 3-1 in the overall series and with just two ODI games left for the series, India will be aiming for two successive wins against the hosts.

South Africa dominated the first ODI as captain Bavuma played a classical leading role, scoring his second century in the ODIs, while Rassie too scored his second ton in the ODIs helping the team to win the first game against India. Almost half of the team’s total was scored by Rassie van der Dussen alone as he stood not out for 129* runs giving South Africa a defensive score of 296.

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India’s batting line-up looked manageable to chase the target, but the middle order seemed far stretched as the tail-enders seem successful with the bat, giving India a better end to the game. But with the second innings, tail-enders shall not be left dependent on. The middle-order included Pant, Shreyas, Venkatesh, and Ashwin but none of the four batsmen were able to stand and chase the “run-a-ball” target, given by the hosts. India from 138/1, surprisingly came down to 214/8.

The openers look to give a perfect start but with skipper Rahul not able to score, India lost an early wicket. Dhawan came back in play with a positive response of half-century but the team shall ask for more from the experienced openers. Virat played an ODI after a long time, managed to hit 51 but the fans and team surely expected the “chase-master” to play what he is known for. The veteran and one of the top batsmen, Virat is expected to perform well as the former captain gave away his leadership role to perform for the team.

Thakur helped the team to fight till the end but was not able to win the match. Thakur surely brought the margin down as team South Africa won by 31 runs. The first half-century by ‘Lord Shardul’ gave team India a positive response for a better ‘tail-ending’ performance.

Team India might eye to win both the remaining matches as the hosts lead by 1-0 in the ODI series.