World Cup Match Preview: India vs South Africa

It was just a month ago that these two teams were battling a five-match series tied at 2-2. On Saturday, the paths of South and India will again intersect at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. South Africa will have slept this week off, cajoling themselves in the comfort of their hotel rooms that a relapse of their genetic disease is not upon them; that the last-minute choke against England on Sunday was but a passing déjà vu. India, while remaining the only team in Group B with an unblemished record yet, have chinks in their armour that, against a top team like the Proteas, might be their undoing.

The ground at Jamtha has been a hotbed of runs. Teams like Netherlands and Zimbabwe have milked it for scores of 290-plus. But it has also provided the ungainly bounce, and while New Zealand put on 311 against Ireland in a warm-up game, a few days later against the Aussie pacers, who could extract juice from the pitch, the same Kiwi team had to scavenge 207 runs using a lower-order resurgence. Spin may play a good part too, going by Balaji Rao’s success against Zimbabwe here, and teams may go in with a 2-2 seamer-spinner ratio to get the best of both tendencies. There was chaos outside the stadium on Tuesday as fans got wind that tickets for this crackerjack were in short supply; if Virender Sehwag takes it upon himself to exploit the conditions, there could be chaos inside the stadium on Saturday.

India:

Yuvraj Singh has saved India’s blushes against minnows twice in a row now. After having spent much of the past few months bearing the cross of being a blossoming bowler whose batsmanship seems on the wane, he has clawed his way back, somewhat, with three consecutive fifties. However, the test of his fluency will be against the bounce of the Protean pacers. Sachin Tendulkar has now gone a couple of matches, after his century at Bangalore, without surpassing any milestones; his 200 in Gwalior, though it happened a year back, will still be fresh in South Africa’s memories. There has been debate about the efficacy of playing two stodgy batsmen in Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli adjacently, and a suggestion of playing the flamboyant Suresh Raina to kindle the mix. But, neither of the two are easy to drop, given Kohli’s recent form against South Africa and Gambhir’s collating presence in the line-up.

Captain Dhoni has backed his leg-spinner, Piyush Chawla, to the hilt. Despite his prolonged ineffectiveness (he had not had an ODI wicket since 2008), he has been persisted with in this tournament, where leggies have found a footing. Against South Africa, however, Ravichandran Ashwin may get a look in, if only for the fact that Chawla has been expensive against the South Africans in the past, whereas Ashwin is a relatively unknown quantity for them. Moreover, Yuvraj can be used to leave the right-hander’s bat, in Chawla’s stead. Harbhajan Singh should find bold attackers in the South African batting line-up, as opposed to the docile defence he has had to endure against the lower-ranked teams, who have tended to respect his stature too much to raise their heads when he is bowling. Munaf Patel may return to the side in place of Ashish Nehra, especially given his recent run of form against the Proteas.

Dhoni has been acknowledging the thinness of his team’s fielding strength for some matches now. He does not have many days or fielding drills to rectify this potentially lethal short-coming, but he will not leave any stone unturned in marshalling his fieldsmen to extract the optimum security.

South Africa:

The South African verve ran out towards the end of the match at Chepauk. A match they had dominated for the most part – their habit so far this tournament – came loose with James Anderson’s reverse swing triggering a batting collapse. The strong-willed Hashim Amla was the only batsman, in South Africa’s reply against England’s meagre 171, to cross a score of 30, after he and Graeme Smith constructed a strong opening partnership. Teams will have noted that the South African spine can, with some divine assistance, be broken by the moving ball.

AB de Villiers will be key during this clash, with his spritely form and feet. His back being a bone of contention has turned out to be a boon for his supporters, and with Morne van Wyk having filled his ‘keepers’ gloves, De Villiers has been given free rein to focus on what he does best for his team.

Imran Tahir has been advised ten days of rest to nurse a fractured finger, and though the absconding digit is in his left hand, he is most unlikely to be risked at this pre-pubescent stage of the tournament. He seems not destined to bowl to the Indians; he had warmed the benches all through their tour in January this year too. He has got 11 wickets from his three matches in the tournament and may have caused, despite their aptitude for spin, problems for the Indian batsmen.

Morne Morkel was the pick of the bowlers in the match against England, stingy, with his economy of 2.28 and two wickets. Dale Steyn will look for the variable bounce that earned the Aussies the providential wickets against the Kiwis here, and look to slip one between Sehwag’s bat and pad. While Lonwabo Tsotsobe has been sitting out to accommodate the extra spinner, Smith may well figure JP Duminy competent enough to roll his arm over for the missing spinner and get Tsotsobe, who had troubled the Indians in their last series, in for this game.

Form guide:

India:

Mar 9, 2011 Defeated Netherlands by 5 wickets
Mar 6, 2011 Defeated Ireland by 5 wickets
Feb 27, 2011 Tied with England
Feb 19, 2011 beat Bangladesh by 87 runs
Feb 13, 2011 beat New Zealand by 117 runs

South Africa:

Mar 6, 2011 Lost to England by
Mar 3, 2011 Defeated Netherlands by 231 runs
Feb 24, 2011 Defeated West Indies by 7 wickets
Feb 16, 2011 Defeated Australia by 7 wickets
Feb 12, 2011 Defeated Zimbabwe by 8 wickets

Likely teams:

India: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla/Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel.

South Africa: Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Morne van Wyk, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Johan Botha/Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Players to watch:

Zaheer Khan has attained fame, since he returned as Version 2.0, as the bowler who made Graeme Smith his bunny. He had dismissed the South African captain as many as thrice in 4 matches in the 2007 ODI tour, as he would bowl a slew of off-cutters and then jag the ball sharply back into his pads, making their contest, in time, a no-brainer. He has been India’s most reliable striker in this tournament so far, and ought to play a key role at Nagpur.

Jacques Kallis’ batting average jumps from 45, over his career, to 65, against India. He is the more to be feared when encountered in Indian conditions, with a century and 4 fifties to his credit. One of the better players of spin in his team, he could instigate Harbhajan to reprise his attacking modus operandi; or, on the other hand, slam him out of the attack.

Prediction: Though this would be Group B’s blue riband clash, it holds little significance, but for confidence and bragging rights for the top-dog in the group, as both teams are virtually heirs apparent for the quarters. The score-line of the series they last played, in January this year, may have read 3-2 to South Africa, and the Proteas were clearly the more dominant outfit. India had pulled off two hard-fought victories to lead into a series-deciding final match, but that scenario was wrought by South Africa contriving to turn what should have been cakewalks, chasing, into last-ball humdingers which India would win by their nose-hair.

It is a very tight one to call, and you would not venture a winner if you were the PA of the country’s leading bookmaker. India loses 38 per cent of the time against the Proteas, but South Africa does not have the best sub-continental record. One thing is for certain: the battle on Saturday will assuredly not meander like this attempt at prediction is appearing to, and though India are on home turf, on their considerably more frequently occuring better days, South Africa are the more formidable side.