India On Verge Of Historic Series Win
- By Adam Currie on January 21, 2011 05:59 GMT
Indiais on the verge of a rare series win in a country that maintains its status as India’s worst win-loss record.
Prior to this series, the World Cup hosts had only ever won three ODI’s against South Africa in South Africa, however now find themselves heading into this match already 2-1 up in the series.
The batting was ordinary in the first two matches, while it was only minimally better in the third.
With seniors like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir missing from the ranks, the youngsters, who have done well in the recent past, have not really been able to cope with conditions well.
The last pieces of the World Cup puzzle are slowly falling into place leading into this potentially series deciding humdinger.
Yusuf Pathan sealed his slot at number 7 in Cape Town, while Virat Kohli continues to put pressure for a spot in the top order with impressive performances.
South Africahave lost two in a row now, however there have been glimpses of positive showings.
JP Duminy played two responsible knocks, and is beginning to show that he can lead the lower order, while the young and exciting Faf du Plessis showed flair in his debut only a few days ago.
The hosts might very well give Pakistan-born legspinner Imran Tahir his international debut, and give him a chance to show what he can do.
India (possible): 1 Parthiv Patel, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Piyush Chawla / Ashish Nehra, 10 Munaf Patel, 11 Zaheer Khan
South Africa (possible): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Colin Ingram, 4 AB de Villiers (wk), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Johan Botha, 8 Dale Steyn, 9 Wayne Parnell / Imran Tahir, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe
Watch out for Hashim Amla in Port Elizabeth, as he looks to convert one of the many starts he has had this series. If he is able to calm his, until now, aggressive approach and make more sensible shot selections, he is capable of boosting the home lineup.
For India, watch Kohli as he looks to emerge from the shadows of big hitter Pathan. Kohli is capable of smashing the ball a mile, and on the short boundaries of St. Georges Park he could prove devastating.
Dale Steyn is favoured to do the damage with the ball in PE, while the experienced pair of Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh sits at equal odds for India.
