London, Jun 11 : South Africa have four batsmen in the top ten rankings for batsmen in ODIs. They would be very excited on seeing the bowling line-up on India's team sheet today. Execution matters though. One expected change from South Africa. Parnell didn't impress in the first two games and the exciting Phehlukwayo takes his place.
Very interesting team selection from India. They have opted for only two frontline pacers in Bhuvi and Bumrah. Pandya is playing as the third pacer (a lot of eyebrows raised). He has a skiddy bouncer, hope he is on top of his game today. India need him to do well. Ashwin will be key with three lefties in the top-order as Kohli mentioned.
Teams:
South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers(c), David Miller, Jean-Paul Duminy, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah
De Villiers: 'The stats tell you that it is probably not a bad thing to bowl first, but I am pretty happy batting first. We have had success in this tournament here batting first against Sri Lanka. Pretty excited to get a good score on the board now. It's about communication to know what is a good score. Maybe every 5 overs we need to communicate with our batters. He (Kohli) is a good man. We get along really well. We are both great competitors and we are both here to win the game for our country. Phehlukwayo, comes in for Parnell.'
Kohli: 'We are going to bowl. Teams have been chasing well. The wicket should stay the same throughout the game. We'll know exactly what to do when we come out to bat. We have batted pretty well in both the games, not many teams have got 320 scores in this tournament. Just that we couldn't defend it last game, maybe we were 15-20 short. When you bat second you know exactly what you need to do, so that stress for us is out of the way and we can just focus on restricting the opposition now. Ashwin comes in for Umesh. They have three left-handers, so bringing in an off-spinner could be a great thing for us.'
India have won the toss and have opted to field
We are minutes away from the toss. Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers sport a big smile as they chat beside the pitch.
Time and time again, South Africa have brought a squad which makes people tag them as one of the favourties for an event, but somehow, they find themselves without the silverware. No one quite knows what the reason is because on paper, they look very strong. History aside, this game gives them an opportunity to justify the potential and the depth the side has and progress to the semifinal. The biggest news for the Proteas is that their captain AB de Villiers is declared fit for the game.
Pitch Report: 'It's a virtual quarterfinal. Very good overhead conditions in London, it's a warm day. It's the same pitch that was used for the game against Sri Lanka. There's a bit less grass on it than the other day. There are few dry patches, but it shouldn't change much from the previous game. There are a few footmarks, but they aren't dry enough to interest the spinners. It's about handling the pressure and toss would not make a difference,' reckons Sourav Ganguly