South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl in the third and final Twenty20 international against India at the Wanderers Stadium on Thursday
Suryakumar Yadav (Pic: AFP)
The Indian bowlers will come under sharp scrutiny in the team's pursuit to merge the immediate task of series-levelling and the distant target of finding an ideal combination for next year's World Cup during the SA vs IND 3rd T20I on Thursday.
The second T20I against the Proteas was a microcosm of the struggles this next-line Indian bowlers have gone through more often than not over the last three weeks.
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The left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh and his right-arm colleague Mukesh Kumar were carted around by South African opener Reeza Hendricks, leaking 15.50 and 11.33 runs per over and they needed to regroup in a day's time. Of course, rain and dew made their task a bit tough at Port Elizabeth but the pair lacked the imagination or control while bowling in a rather unfavourable environment.
The non-availability of pacer Deepak Chahar for personal reasons only have added to the bowling woes. Arshdeep and Mukesh are the bowlers the management trusts to produce forceful efforts in the absence of seniors like Jasprit Bumrah. But this reserve bench hasn't been able to vindicate that faith so far, many times finding themselves in deep waters.
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South Africa too will have their own concern in the bowling department as pacers Gerald Coetzee, Marco Jansen, and Lungi Ngidi (injured as of now) will miss tomorrow's match as they head to play in First-Class matches to prepare for the red-ball leg of the tour.
But banking on past records and opposition's weak points alone will not work against an outfit like South Africa, as India, especially bowlers, need to find a way to fire in unison.
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SA vs IND 3rd T20I live updates: Squads
South Africa: Aiden Markram (capt), Ottniel Baartman, Matthew Breetzke, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen (wkt), David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Lizaad Williams
India: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-capt), Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan (wkt), Mukesh Kumar, Jitesh Sharma (wkt), Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Yadav
SA vs IND 3rd T20I live updates: Pitch report
The wickets that South African pitches tend to offer more pace and bounce by default, however, in white-ball format, the pitches have been mostly flat favouring batsmen as of late.
SA vs IND 2nd T20I live updates: Toss update
South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl in the third and final Twenty20 international against India at the Wanderers Stadium on Thursday.
SA vs IND 3rd T20I live updates: Confirmed playing XIs
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar
South Africa: Matthew Breetzke, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Gerald Coetzee, Lizaad Williams, Tabraiz Shamsi
9:30 PM: 131/2 (13)
Suryakumar Yadav misses a cut off a wide-of-the-crease delivery, but makes up for it with two consecutive sixes, follows it up with a cheeky late cut for a four, and later clobbers a leg-cutter over cow corner for a massive six. Jaiswal makes room to cut hard for a single, contributing to a century partnership with Yadav.
9:12 PM: 108/2 (12)
Suryakumar Yadav is beaten on the outside edge by a delivery with extra bounce, while Jaiswal squeezes a yorker to third man for a single, hammers a short off-speed ball for a six over deep mid-wicket to race to his fifty off 34 balls by working a back-of-a-length delivery through mid-wicket for a single.
8:55 PM: 75/2 (8)
Suryakumar Yadav works a delivery through mid-wicket for a single and gets a major reprieve on account of a failed review on an lbw appeal with the ball pitching outside leg.
8:39 PM: 62/2 (6)
Suryakumar Yadav faces Maharaj, initially cutting hard but finding extra cover, then chopping towards extra cover, followed by an impressive six as he shimmies down the track and flicks over deep mid-wicket, while Yashasvi Jaiswal leans forward to drive a fullish delivery to long-on in the same over.
8:30 PM: Match begins!
Proteas captain Aiden Markram said they were following the pattern set in Tuesday's rain-hit second match in Gqeberha when South Africa won by five wickets after putting India in to bat.
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