SA vs IND 2nd ODI: PREVIEW

A scintillating 100 by RVD and a well anchored knock by Proteas Captain Temba Bavuma resulted in a convincing 31 run win over India. Since this series isn't a part of the Super League, SA is in danger of playing qualifiers.
They haven't had the best of their times in ODIs since the 2019 WC apart from a 3-0 drubbing of Australia back in 2020. A start like this means a lot to this crop of players and they will hope to carry this momentum forward.

 As far as India is concerned, they have been marred by injuries and missing key players did reflect into their selection process. KL Rahul who had a dream run at no 5 had to open in the absence of their best opener Rohit Sharma. This meant the load doubled on the shoulder of Iyer and Pant in absence of Hardik and Jadeja. India was forced to play with 5 frontline bowlers as the captain and management had no plans on using Venkatesh Iyer.  
This was a strange call since he was asked to bat at 6 ahead of Suryakumar Yadav. 
With the series on line, it's expected they will take calls on his bowling since it affects the team balance. SA will look to play with the same 11. 
2 spinners plus the part-time bowler Markram gives them a great cushion on that surface which tends to play slow as the game progresses. 

Playing XI

India: Dhawan, KL Rahul, Kohli, Shreyas, Pant, Venkatesh, Ashwin, Thakur, Bhuvi, Bumrah, Chahal 

South Africa: de Kock, Malan, Bavuma, Markram, Dussen, Miller, Phehlukwayo, Maharaj, Rabada, Ngidi, Shamsi

Head to Head
Overall: South Africa leads 47-35
In SA: South Africa leads 23-10
Last 10 HTHs: India leads 7-3

Match Ups

India
Shreyas vs Ngidi: 16 runs for 3 dismissals
Kohli vs Ngidi: 88 runs for no dismissals
Virat Kohli averages 61 in 2nd match of an ODI series

South Africa
de Kock vs Bhuvi: 158 runs without dismissal
de Kock vs Chahal: 13 runs for 2 dismissals
Markram vs Bumrah: 19 runs for 2 dismissals
Miller vs Chahal: 45 runs for 3 dismissals
Janneman averages 167 in 2nd match of an ODI series

Key Players

India
KL Rahul: Ind might think to shift him back at 5 and ask Venkatesh Iyer to open to boost the middle order.
Yuzi Chahal: After a poor outing in 1st game, a lot will depend on the leg spinner. India allowed Rassie to run away with things after SA was 3 down.
Shardul Thakur: Death overs are another area of concern. India had to bring back Bumrah in the middle overs to Break the 4th wkt partnership hence a lot depended on Bhuvi and Thakur. 

South Africa
Tabraiz Shamsi: World no.1 T20I bowler is also leaving his mark in ODIs, getting the biggest fish in the last game who treats those run-chases as practice sessions.
Keshav Maharaj: Another similar surface means Ind have to plan better against Shamsi - Maharaj duo. He has had an economy of 4.4 for 2 yrs. Bowled a terrific 8-over spell which was the difference in maintaining the pressure.
Aiden Markram: His part-time spin is more of a concern than his batting at this stage. About time his bat speaks.

 

Dream XI Team