SA vs IND, 1st ODI: Bavuma elects to bat
The South Africa versus India first ODI is set to start at the Boland Park in Paarl today. Both teams will be looking to start on a positive note and take a crucial lead in the three-match series. KL Rahul is leading India in Rohit Sharma's absence. The news from the center is that Temba Bavuma has won the toss and will bat first.
South Africa and India have played 84 ODI matches to date. The Proteas have managed to win 46 games. India have pocketed 35 wins. Three games did not have a result. Notably, India have won seven of the last eight ODIs between the two sides. India beat SA 6-1 in their previous ODI series back in 2018-19.
South Africa playing XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma (c), David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi India playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
The pitch at Boland Park will help the batters. As the match progresses, the pacers will need to alter their pace. Spinners will be in the game and they will hope to exploit the offerings. The match will start at 2:00 PM IST. One can watch the match live on the Star Sports Network and stream the same on the Hotstar app (paid subscription).
India and South Africa have never met at this venue in ODIs. India have played three ODIs here, won twice (against Kenya in 2001, and the Netherlands in 2003) while one match ended in a tie (against Zimbabwe in 1997). South Africa have played seven games here and won six of them. One ODI between SA and England in December 2020 was canceled.
India's wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has taken 97 scalps at 26.93. He needs three wickets more to reach the milestone of 100 and can become the 23rd Indian cricketer to do so. Virat Kohli has scored 5,057 at away venues in ODIs. Notably, Kohli can surpass Sachin Tendulkar's away runs tally in ODIs (5,065). Kohli (70) can equal Ricky Ponting's number of international centuries (71).
