Raipur, Dec 3 South Africa captain Temba Bavuma has returned to lead the side in the second ODI against India, as the visitors won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium on Wednesday.
Apart from Bavuma, Keshav Maharaj and Lungi Ngidi are also back in the playing eleven for the clash where South Africa are aiming to level the series after losing the opening game in Ranchi by 17 runs. The trio coming in means Ryan Rickelton, Prenelan Subrayen and Ottniel Baartman are out of the playing eleven.
“We are hoping as the dew comes in, batting gets easier. Very hard to say what it’s going to play like. There are a lot of positives (from the last game). We have to start well. Big, big game for us, chance to level the series,” he said.
Skipper KL Rahul said India are unchanged in their playing eleven for the clash in Raipur, where a win will give them an unassailable lead. “Honestly, toss is the most pressure I’ve had. But we did really well in the last game. They pushed us and we know what to expect. Before the series, we spoke about it, we expect dew every place we play. Put runs on the board, pick wickets early. Wicket looks good,” he said.
From the North End, the square boundaries measure 67 metres, with the third man and fine leg ones being slightly shorter at 61m and 62m, respectively, while the straight boundary stretches to 74 and 75 metres, respectively.
In his pitch report, Shaun Pollock assessed the surface as patchy, noting cracks, dry spots and unevenness could make it two-paced and less conducive for high scoring. With the abrasive outfield likely to aid reverse swing and dew expected to play a role later in the evening, Deep Dasgupta felt chasing would be beneficial.
Playing XIs
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul (captain & wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, and Prasidh Krishna
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (captain), Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, and Lungi Ngidi
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