Deadline: September 15, 2019 at 7 PM IST
Venue: Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala
Pitch report
India have played only one T20I at Dharamsala and that too against South Africa. The result, however, did not go in their favour. The Proteas chased down a massive target of 200 runs with 2 balls remaining, eclipsing Rohit Sharma’s hundred.
Although the pitch is a belter, it has some purchase for the pacers. Make your fantasy team accordingly.
Weather forecast
The weather looks bleak in Dharamsala. Fortunately, the precipitation is likely to drop to 15% an hour before the start of play. Fingers crossed!
Teams
India have dropped Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal at the expense of the youngsters Rahul Chahar and Washington Sundar. The selectors, however, revealed that they want to test India’s bench strength in order to prepare well for the 2020 World T20, that KulCha will always be India’s prime spinners in limited-overs.
Probable XI for India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja/Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini
South Africa have a new T20I leader in Quinton de Kock. It will be fascinating to see how he shapes up the team in the shortest format.
Probable XI for South Africa: Quinton de Kock (c & wk), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Junior Dala, Tabraiz Shamsi
NOTE: Pick your fantasy cricket team wisely
Match prediction
India are ahead in the head-to-head contests against South Africa, having won 8 of 13 T20Is. In the previous bilateral series, India walloped South Africa 1-2 in their own backyard, in 2018.
If anything, India boast of a balanced and experience side, posing a slight advantage over the hosts.
Form guide
India: L, W, L, W, L, L, L, W, W, W
South Africa: L, W, W, W, W, W, L, T, W, W
Players to watch out for
The last time Deepak Chahar played a T20I, his figures read 3 for 4. To make matters interesting, he bowled only 3 overs. Perhaps Virat Kohli wanted others bowlers to take wickets as well. Two matches before, Navdeep Saini had taken a three-wicket haul, giving away a mere 17 runs. There’s a reason India could afford to rest Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.
Reeza Hendricks was on a roll in the recently concluded South Africa A’s tour of India. He collected 239 runs in 5 ODIs including a century and two fifties. He will be itching to continue his red-hot form.
David Miller’s experience of playing in the IPL will come in handy. In the absence of Faf du Plessis, the onus of managing the middle-order falls on him.
Watch out for Krunal Pandya. Not only is he a skilled all-rounder but also delivers when matters the most. If anything, he is a man of crisis.
Kagiso Rabada may not have had the best of World Cups, but he a terrific IPL this year: he scalped 25 wickets in 12 matches.
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