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India and South Africa square off in the third and final T20I at The Wanderers in Johannesburg on Thursday. The Proteas made the most of the conditions in a rain-curtailed 2nd T20I to go 1-0 up in the series. India, sent in to bat, were 180 for seven when rain ended the innings with three balls remaining in their 20 overs. After a delay of almost an hour, South Africa were set to make 152 off 15 overs. The Proteas won the game by five wickets (DLS) and seven balls to spare. India need a win to level the series after the opener was washed out due to rain in Durban.
According to AccuWeather, there is about an 2% chance of rain during the day in Johannesburg, with the cloud cover being 54%. However, the chances of rain will increase during the night to about 36%, with the cloud cover being 88%.
After going 1-0 up in the series, South African captain Aiden Markram admitted that the conditions favoured his team. Rain fell in the lead-up to the match before returning at the end of the Indian innings.
“The second bit of rain helped us. The ball skidded on a bit and also affected the outfield,” said Markram.
The second T20I against the Proteas was a microcosm of the struggles this next-line Indian bowlers have gone through more often than not over the last three weeks.
The left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh and his right-arm colleague Mukesh Kumar were carted around by South African opener Reeza Hendricks, leaking 15.50 and 11.33 runs per over and they needed to regroup in a day’s time.
Of course, rain and dew made their task a bit tough at Port Elizabeth but the pair lacked the imagination or control while bowling in a rather unfavourable environment.
The absence of pacer Deepak Chahar due to personal reasons might work in Proteas’ favour.
However, South Africa too will have their own concern in the bowling department as pacers Gerald Coetzee, Marco Jansen, and Lungi Ngidi (injured as of now) will miss tomorrow’s match as they head to play in First-Class matches to prepare for the red-ball leg of the tour.
(With PTI Inputs)
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