The final T20I between India and South Africa will take place at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and India will look to wrap up the series without any hiccups having taken a 1-0 series lead after the win at Mohali.
However, just as rain affected the first match at Dharamsala ensuring a washout before a ball was even bowled, the weather could yet again play spoilsport at Bengaluru. The weather forecast for the day is cloudy and there are chances of rain or a thunderstorm, meaning the match might suffer for at least a while due to the weather.
In the previous T20I, Deepak Chahar and Virat Kohli turned out to be the stand-out performers in Mohali as India cruised to a seven-wicket win against the young Proteas side led by Quinton de Kock.
Team India ticked almost all boxes in Mohali where they first restricted the visitors to 149 and then chased down the target riding on their skipper Kohli’s unbeaten 72. However, one area of concern, which has now been looming over the team, will be the form of wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and he will again be in focus in Bengaluru.
On Friday, former India captain and NCA head Rahul Dravid spent some time with the Indian players during the practice session and offered some piece of advice to all of them, especially to Pant. For the hosts, it will be a case of continuing with the performance they have been delivering in the recent times.
Proteas, on the other hand, will have their task cut out. In order to level the series, the mantra for them is actually quite simple: score enough runs, i.e. in excess of 180 and give their bowlers something on the Chinnaswamy pitch which historically has been a high-scoring ground.
This post was published on September 22, 2019 3:47 pm