Cape Town Test: Preview

This will be the third and the series deciding test match of the series between South Africa and India. India won the first game by 113 runs while South Africa bounced back in the second test defeating India by 7 wickets. We’ve seen all kinds of things on the field in the first two games.  One can sense the tension between the two sides in the second test.

Both teams are in good form and will look to win this third and final test and win the series. It will be interesting to see who comes out victorious but one thing is for sure that an exciting contest is on the cards for us fans.

India after winning the first game comfortably were defeated by 7 wickets in the second test and it was mainly because of the poor performance by the batting group. India scored only 202 runs in the first innings which was probably a below par first innings total and Virat Kohli’s absence made things worse for the Indian side. KL Rahul scored a fifty in the first innings while the experienced duo of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane scored 53 and 58 in the second innings respectively.

Hanuma Vihari scored 40* but the lower order failing to contribute with the bat left India 50-60 runs short in the second innings. The Indian bowlers did a good job in the first innings. Shardul Thakur was outstanding as he picked 7 wickets in the first innings. Indian bowlers struggled for wickets in the second innings and Jasprit Bumrah’s economy in the second innings was 4.1 after 17 overs. But Bumrah is a champion bowler and expect him to bounce back strongly in the third test.
 

South Africa on the other hand, came back strongly after losing the first game Their bowlers did an excellent job bundling out India for just 202 runs in the first innings and put them ahead early in the game. The pace quartet of Kagiso Rabada, Duanne Olivier, Marco Jansen, and Lungi Ngidi never allowed the Indian batters to take control.  Jansen picked 4 wickets in the first innings while Rabada 3 wickets in each innings. Olivier picked 3 in the first and Ngidi picked 3 wickets in the second innings.

After a good performance by the bowlers it was the African batters led by their skipper Dean Elgar who stole the limelight. Keegan Petersen scored 62 in the first innings with Bavuma scoring 51 as well. Dean Elgar stood like a wall against the Indian bowlers scoring a gritty 96 runs in the second innings taking his team over the line. Aiden Markram scored 31 while Petersen and Rassie van der Dussen scored 28 and 40 respectively.  The Proteas will be very happy with their batters and bowlers performing well and will look to continue the same in the third and final test as well.

Probable Playing 11

India

Virat Kohli is set to return in the eleven and despite all the noise it doesn’t look like any of Pujara or Rahane will be dropped so Hanuma Vihari will make way for Virat. Mohamad Siraj is injured and will be replaced by one of Ishant Sharma or Umesh Yadav.

India’s Probable 11:  KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav/Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami.
 

South Africa

South Africa won the last game and they wouldn't like to hamper the winning combination so no changes are expected in their line-up.

South Africa’s Probable 11: Dean Elgar (c), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Duanne Olivier, Lungi Ngidi.

Pitch Report

This game will be played at Newlands, Capetown. The pitch here should assist the bowlers. The pacers should get assistance off the wicket throughout the test match with some assistance for the spinners in the later phase of the game. The average first innings score at this venue is 368 runs and the average runs per wicket is 30.63.

Head to Head

Overall: IND - 15, SA - 15
In SA: IND - 4, SA - 10
Cape Town: SA - 3, IND - 0
Under VK's Captaincy: IND - 8, SA - 2
 

Match Ups

India
Rahul vs Jansen: 27 runs for 2 dismissals
Mayank vs Jansen: 29 runs for 2 dismissals
Pujara vs Rabada: 78 runs for 3 dismissals
Pujara vs Ngidi: 43 runs for 2 dismissals
Rahane vs Rabada: 96 runs for 1 dismissal
Kohli vs Rabada: Average 89.5 with 2 dismissals
Kohli vs Ngidi: 59 runs for 3 dismissals
Pant vs Rabada: 26 runs for 2 dismissals

South Africa
Elgar vs Bumrah: Average 51 with 2 dismissals
Elgar vs Shami: Average 59 with 2 dismissals
Bavuma vs Shami: 43 runs for 4 dismissals
Markram vs Shami: 52 runs for 4 dismissals
Markram vs Ashwin: 36 runs for 2 dismissals

Key Players

India

KL Rahul is the highest run-scorer in the series with 204 runs in the first two games at an average of 51. He has been scoring very consistently at the top and is one of the main batters for India. 

Virat Kohli’s return will boost the morale of his side. Kohli hasn’t been up to his best with the bat in recent times but he’s a proven all time-great and expect him to come to the party when the team needs him the most.

Mohammad Shami  has been India’s best bowler in this series. He has 11 wickets to his name after the first two games and his average is 19.45. Shami has been brilliant with the ball for quite sometime now and will look to continue his good performance.

South Africa

Dean Elgar is just 2 runs behind KL Rahul, scoring 202 runs in 2 games at an average of 67.33. Elgar has been very consistent with the bat and just keeps on batting. He’s the best batsman for his team and is leading from the front in this series.

Kagiso Rabada is the highest wicket-taker in this series with 13 wickets to his name. He is averaging 19.62 with the ball. Rabada is currently one of the best pacers in all the formats and the Proteas will expect him to continue his good form in the series decider.

Youngster Marco Jansen has bowled really well in his debut series, picking 12 wickets after the first two games. The tall left-arm pacer has troubled the Indian batters with his height and swing and will be very crucial for the Proteas if they are to win the series.

 

Dream11 Prediction

Differential Picks :

Temba Bavuma
Keegan Petersen
Ajinkya Rahane
Umesh Yadav/Ishant Sharma

Top Captaincy Picks:

KL Rahul
Dean Elgar
Kagiso Rabada
Marco Jansen
Mohammad Shami

Team 1

Team 2