India look to bounce back in ODI series finale against South Africa

South Africa, led by Temba Bavuma, will face India in the ODI series decider at Visakhapatnam. With Kohli in form and Markram, Jansen shining for the visitors, fans can expect a thrilling finale at the VDCA-ACA Stadium

Visakhapatnam: South Africa, with Temba Bavuma as leader, seems to be a different kind of proposition altogether in this tournament, having wrapped up the two-Test series 2-0 and chased down a challenging target in Raipur in the second one-dayer after losing a close match in the first game at Ranchi.

By all means, South Africa should be looking to clinch the one-day series too, tied one-all after two games, when it takes on India in the third and final one-dayer of the three-match series at the VDCA-ACA Stadium in the ‘City of Destiny’ here on Saturday.

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This despite flamboyant opener Quinton de Kock not firing at the top of the order. But the move to shift Aiden Markram to the opening slot worked wonders as he slammed a match-winning century in the second game.

The best part of this South African line-up is its depth, with someone like Marco Jansen, who is having a dream tour of India, and Corbin Bosch batting so well down the order. The classy Matthew Breetzke, big-hitting Dewald Brevis and the ever-busy Tony de Zorzi have been splendid with the bat.

A major area of concern for the visitors could be the erratic bowling, especially in the second one-dayer which saw 20 wides.

No doubt, the bowling attack of Lungi Ngidi, Dandre Burger and Marco Jansen in pace and spinner Keshav Maharaj has the ability to pull things back, but it would be interesting to see how they cope with the pressure of a decider on a pitch expected to be batter-friendly, with dew likely to be a factor again.

On the other hand, for India, the focus will again be on one of the all-time greats of the white-ball format, Rohit Sharma, and the vintage Virat Kohli, who made an emphatic statement with two consecutive centuries in this series to serve a reminder, if needed, that these two still mean a lot to Indian cricket.

The welcome feature despite the loss in the second game is Ruturaj Gaikwad scoring his maiden ODI century, which should give him and the team a lot of confidence.

The likes of captain KL Rahul, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja need to step on the accelerator to score those few extra runs which could be decisive.

In bowling, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh has been brilliant with his change of pace and length. But he needs to be backed by the likes of Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna, who had a forgetful outing in the previous game. They need to show more discipline and striking prowess.

In spin, Kuldeep Yadav has been the wicket-taking bowler. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar have the ability to raise the bar, and this is one game they should.

It will be interesting to see whether all-rounder and local hero Nitish Kumar Reddy will play tomorrow. By all means, the fans can expect yet another thriller.