India have never won more than two ODIs in a bilateral series in South Africa but Virat Kohli's men have a chance to rewrite history when they take on the hosts in the third ODI of the ongoing six-match series in Newlands, Cape Town on Wednesday, February 7.
Also read: Virat Kohli-led India on the cusp of history in South Africa
The Men in Blue have crushed South Africa in the first two ODIs, thanks to their wrist-spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, who have shared 13 wickets between them in the series so far.
In the absence of injured AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis gave the hosts a good start to the series with a century in the first ODI in Durban on February 1 but it eventually ended in vain as Virat Kohli helped India gun down a 270-run target with ease.
Things worsened for South Africa in the second ODI as they also lost Du Plessis to an injury. The inexperienced batting line-up, led by stand-in skipper Aiden Markram folded to their lowest total ever at home -- 118 in Centurion on Sunday, February 4.
Deplted batting line-up likely to struggle again
Ahead of the third ODI, South Africa suffered another major setback as wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock was ruled due to a wrist injury on Tuesday.
The depleted batting order is likely to struggle further without three experienced campaigners against India's wrist-spinners, who are relishing the conditions on offer in the "Rainbow Nation".
Middle-order batsman David Miller (7 runs from two matches) and JP Duminy (37 runs from two matches) need to step up if South Africa are to stop India from taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in Cape Town.
Farhaan Behardien, who was included in the squad as a replacement for Du Plessis, might as well replace one of the two above-mentioned left-handers.
On the other hand, India are unlikely to change their winning combination for the third ODI.
While the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, and Ajinkya Rahane have been impressive, Rohit Sharma has struggled to get going at the top. The Mumbai Indians skipper would want to contribute to the team in what is a crucial encounter for both the teams.
When is the match and how to watch it live
The third ODI between South Africa and India will star in Cape Town from 4:30pm IST, 1pm local time and 11am GMT.
Live streaming and TV listings
India: TV: Sony Ten 1 and Sony Ten 3; Live streaming: Sony LIV
South Africa: TV: SuperSport 2; Live streaming: SuperSport live
UK: TV: Sky Sports Cricket; Live streaming: Sky Go
US: Willow TV
Squads
South Africa: Hashim Amla, Jean-Paul Duminy, Aiden Markram (c), David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Khaya Zondo, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Lungisani Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Farhaan Behardien.
India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik (wk), MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.
