Trailing 0-1, India face South Africa in the final T20I of their three-match series in Johannesburg, on Thursday. Rain played spoilsport in the first T20I, which was washed out without a ball being bowled. Then in the second T20I, the home side crashed to a five-wicket defeat in Port Elizabeth, due to the DLS method.
In the second T20I, India posted 180/7 in 19.3 overs before rain forced the match into a 15-over chase, with the target being set at 153. Rinku Singh (68*) top-scored for the visitors, and captain Suryakumar Yadav (56) also got a half-century. On the other hand, Gerald Coetzee took a three-wicket haul for South Africa.
Chasing 152 in 15 overs, South Africa cruised to 154/5 in 13.5 overs. Reeze Hendricks was in top form for the Proteas, smacking a knock of 49 off 17 balls. Meanwhile, Mukesh Kumar scalped two dismissals for the home side.
For the third T20I on Thursday, the weather is expected to be better in Johannesburg, with no rain predicted. The temperature is expected to be around 28 degrees Celsius during the day, with it expected to go to 26 degrees Celsius when the match begins. Meanwhile, the temperature could fall to 20 degrees Celsius during the second innings.
The Wanderers Stadium, where the match will be held, is the only regularly used international ground in South Africa where India have not lost more matches than they have won. They are level at 5-5 in Johannesburg.
But on the other hand, South Africa have a good record at the Wanderers, where they have been victorious in 65.98 percentage of their matches, across all formats. South Africa are only more successful at the Centurion, and just 0.29 percentage more.
Speaking ahead of the match, India’s Tilak Varma said, “It’s always good to play in South Africa; it’s quite challenging. We are well-prepared for these conditions, and we have actually batted well in a tough situation.”
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