🏏 India vs South Africa T20I: 4th Match 🏏

🏏 India vs South Africa T20I: 4th Match🏏

India seek to extend fightback as de Kock return looms

The keeper-batter, who is recovering from a wrist injury, batted in the nets on Thursday.

The series has moved from the east of the country to the west but India's situation remains the same: they have to win the next match to stay alive.

They've been buoyed by their biggest T20I win over South Africa on Tuesday, which could have been even bigger had their middle order not fallen away. Despite that, India will be pleased with the performance of their opening pair, who shared in their highest first-wicket stand against South Africa, and their attack, who challenged South Africa for the first time in the series.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, in particular, has been outstanding up front, moving the ball both ways and causing problems for a struggling South African opening pair. They've managed stands of 22, 5 and 23 and will want to be able to get off to better starts as South Africa fine-tune their batting combination. Their middle-order batters have made up for what the top two have lacked but will be disappointed with their lack of fight, and especially the hold Yuzvendra Chahal had over them in Visakhapatnam, where India's spinners had their first real say of the series. South Africa's have yet to do the same.

On pitches that have been described as tricky for batting, the seam bowlers and their variations have been the biggest talking point, and wicket-taking has been dominated by India. Bhuvneshwar and Harshal Patel lead the bowling charts followed by Chahal and Dwaine Pretorius. South Africa's biggest name, Kagiso Rabada, has been used more in a containing role while Anrich Nortje is still finding his feet after a lengthy injury layoff. Both will want to have more of an impact before the end of the series,

An India batter is also atop the batting charts. Ishan Kishan has scored the most runs so far followed by a rejuvenated Heinrich Klaasen, and both are perhaps unexpected heroes. This pair have the opportunity to make themselves indispensable for their teams in the immediate future, especially with the series on the line.

Pitch Report:

The wicket at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium is batting-friendly and several high-scoring games have been witnessed on the track. Skipper winning the toss might want to have a bowl first and chase down the total later on in the match. However, a score of above 180 can be defendable on the track.

Weather Forecast:

India's bid for a series-leveling win on Friday may get hampered as the conditions in Rajkot is expected to be cloudy and rain may play a spoilsport in penultimate T20I.

Thanks for tag Raji. 

Thanks for the tag! Hoping India wins this as well, Go India 🇮🇳 

Team news:

India have used the same combination in all three matches so far, and it worked for them in the third match. They're unlikely to tinker with a winning formula, which could mean a longer wait for Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh to make their debuts.

India (possible): 1 Ishan Kishan, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Dinesh Karthik, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal.

Aiden Markram has left India after serving his seven-day quarantine after contracting Covid-19 on June 8. He will not have enough time to complete his return-to-play program before the end of the series. South Africa are also waiting on the fitness of Quinton de Kock, who injured his wrist before the second match, but batted in the nets on Thursday. Given the low strike-rates of the opening pair, de Kock is likely to replace Reeza Hendricks if he's fit.

South Africa (possible): 1 Quinton de Kock/Reeza Hendricks, 2 Temba Bavuma (capt), 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 David Miller, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Dwaine Pretorius, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi.

What they said:

"I can't worry about that because I can't bowl as fast as Umran, plain and simple. I've never been an express fast bowler, so my focus has always been on developing skills around my bowling and whatever limitations and advantages I have. No matter how you do it, winning the game for the team is the ultimate goal." - Harshal Patel on not trying to be Umran Malik.

"If he gets faster, great for him. If I get faster, great for me. I don't think we're competing to try and bowl the fastest ball. It's about winning games and contributing." - Anrich Nortje on not trying to outgun Umran Malik.

South Africa have outdone India significantly in the 11th-16th-over phase during this series, scoring at 11.00 per over while restricting the hosts to a run rate of 7.72 in the same phase. South Africa have only lost three wickets in this phase through the series, while India have lost six.

But South Africa have struggled in the powerplay, losing six wickets across the three matches while only going at a run rate of 7.11. India have done a lot better, going at 8.33 while losing just the one wicket.

Thanks for the tag Raji

Wish Team India all the best....

lets win it

Thanks for the tag and the thread, Raji. 🤗

Best wishes to team India. 👍🏼 

I hope the rain does not interfere with the game and allows the participants to enjoy the play

Thank you for the tag Rajji🤗

INDIA🥳🥳