SA Vs IND: The IPL 2024 mini auction which was held in Dubai had taken a centre stage yesterday. It was the first time that an IPL auction was held abroad. But because of that many people have failed to realize that India has lost a wonderful opportunity of clinching the ODI series in South Africa.
The three-match one-day international series was levelled to one all. South Africa made a strong comeback into this series with a brilliant all round performance. India batted very poorly and their bowling was even worse in the second ODI which was played yesterday at St. George’s Park.
The whole Indian team was bundled out for just 211 runs and the bowlers who had a great time in the 1st ODI which was played on Sunday in Johannesburg had a worse day in the second match. India lost the second one-day international match by eight wickets with one game is still to be played.
The toss will also hold an utter most importance in the series deciding match because in the first two ODI matches, the teams who had batted first have lost the game.
It would be interesting to see what South Africa and India will do after they win the toss in the third and the final one-day international game.
India will have to come good and they should keep the toss out of their contention. With the ODI series on the line and the Test series approaching, the visitors need to bat well even when they bat first in the last match of this three-match series.
Ruturaj Gaikwad hasn’t shown his class yet as he did in the T20I series against Australia.
The senior players like Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer will have to come good in this series-deciding encounter tomorrow. Samson had the opportunity of scoring some runs under his belt.
But he failed to deliver and his underperformance had put the Indian side under even more pressure. Sanju might not get more chances like these again soon.
The bowlers as well didn’t shine like they did in the first game of this series. Arshdeep Singh, the hero of the last game could pick up only one wicket in the 2nd ODI and Rinku Singh also got one wicket to his name.
But the spinners struggled to make an impact. Axar and Kuldeep went wicketless in the last game. They should aim for a brilliant comeback in the 3rd ODI match.
South Africa did well after a thrashing loss in the first one-day international match. Their bowlers did a wonderful job in the second game and the batters were simply superb.
After the bowlers, the openers had set the tone for this magnificent win for the home side and that’s why the series has been levelled to one all.
Tony de Zorzi scored an unbeaten 119 runs and Reeza Hendricks smashed 52 runs in a run chase of 212 runs. Tony is the first and only centurion of this three-match ODI series.
South Africa will want their batters and bowlers to step up in the series-deciding encounter as well and win the series by a margin of 2-1.
Match – South Africa Vs India 3rd One-Day International Match
Venue – Boland Park in Paarl
Day – Thursday
Date – 21st December 2023
Toss Timings – 4 PM Indian Standard Time (IST), 10.30 AM GMT and 12.30 PM Local
Match Timings – 4.30 PM Indian Standard Time (IST), 11 AM GMT and 1 PM Local
Television Channel – Star Sports India Network
Live Streaming – Disney+ Hotstar Mobile Application
India – Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Surdharsan, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav and Avesh Khan.
South Africa - Reeza Hendricks, Tony de Zorzi, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen(wk), David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Tabraiz Shamsi.
Batters – Reeza Hendricks, Sai Sudharsan and KL Rahul
Bowlers – Nandre Burger, Arshadeep Singh and Keshav Maharaj
All-rounders – Axar Patel and Wiaan Mulder
Wicket-keeper – Henrich Klaasen
Vice-captain – Rinku Singh
Captain – Aiden Markram
