The convincing win they had registered on Friday ensured that the momentum will be with India in the crucial third and final one-dayer here on Sunday.
India’s six-wicket win on Friday arrested a trend of five consecutive losses to South Africa, and that alone should give the Indians a lot of confidence ahead of the needle clash. The morrow will also give them a chance to do away with the tag of poor performers in crunch matches.
The think-tank will take the way Sachin Tendulkar tore the South African attack apart as a huge positive, and will be hoping for an encore from the little master. The Sachin factor will definitely worry the South African management. The desperation on the faces of their bowlers was all too evident when the Mumbaikar went on the rampage, and they will certainly be searching for means to get rid of him at the earliest.
The old firm of Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly conjured another opening-wicket century partnership, and that strong foundation helped India overcome a mid-innings collapse. India four for eight in 30 deliveries at one stage before Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Kaarthick propelled them to a deserving victory. India will need one more solid show from the veterans at the top of the order if they are keen to bag the series as it can prove dangerous to expose the middle-order to the South African pace attack.
Finishing prowess
Yuvraj’s finishing prowess will hearten the management, especially considering it came against a quality side like South Africa. India looked sharp in the bowling department as well.
New-ball bowlers Zaheer Khan and Rudra Pratap Singh came up with superb opening spells in seam-friendly conditions to straightaway peg the Proteas back.
With the conditions expected to remain pretty much the same on the morrow, the bowlers will be looking for another fruitful outing. Additionally, pacemen Ajit Agarkar and S Sreesanth have both recovered from flu, both turning up for Saturday’s practice session after a lengthy gap.
Agarkar is likely to figure in the eleven ahead of Ishant Sharma, who made a modest debut on Friday. If the think-tank decides to give Sreesanth too an opportunity, they will have to bring in him at the expense of either RP Singh or off-spinner Ramesh Powar. However, a final call is expected to taken only on match-eve after a final look at the conditions.
Writing off the South Africans, ranked number two in the world, will be naive. They have the ammunition and strength of character to bounce back from any setback, as they displayed while the shaking the Indian middle-order up on Friday.
Recovery
Their bowling attack will receive a boost as fast bowler Dale Steyn is set to return after making sufficient recovery from ‘flu . In that case, Charl Langeveldt -- who took wickets but failed to check the run flow in the previous match -- will make way.
The form of the top order, especially Herschelle Gibbs, continues to bother the Proteas. The explosive has batsman never looked in discomfort in the middle, but has failed to convert starts into substantial knocks.
That has put a lot of serious burden on stand-in skipper Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher.
Young hands like Morne van Wyk -- the highest scorer of the series so far -- have responded well to the challenges, and the opener will have to take it upon himself to provide another good beginning to the innings.
Teams (from):
India: Rahul Dravid (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Kaarthick, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Ramesh Powar, S Sreesanth, Robin Uthappa, Ajit Agarkar, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma.
South Africa: Jacques Kallis (capt), Mark Boucher, AB De Villiers, Jean Paul Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Thandi Tshabalala, Morne van Wyk.
Umpires: Mark Benson (England) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan). Third umpire: Billy Bowden (New Zealand). Match referee: Alan Hurst (Australia).