The ongoing Test series between India and South Africa will have its third and final Test on Tuesday, January 11. The match will be conducted in Cape Town. It is not only the final Test but also the decisive match of the three-Test series between the two teams. India beat South Africa in the first match to take the series lead, but they came back to the square one after losing in the second match by seven wickets.
India
Team India could not even touch the 300 mark in both innings of the second Test. In the fourth innings of the second Test, the Indian bowlers failed to make an impact, and South Africa chased down 243 runs without any hassle. In the third Test, the team will look to bounce back and create history by winning the Test series in South Africa. Virat Kohli missed the second Test due to a back strain. KL Rahul will lead the team if Kohli misses the Test. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal are in good form. Additionally, Rahane and Pujara also struck half-centuries in their previous match. Shardul Thakur had an amazing inning, he bowled exceptionally well, and other bowlers failed to take up good wickets.
South Africa
After losing the first Test, South Africa did not repeat the mistakes in the second Test and came back strong to beat Team India by seven wickets. After Quinton de Kock suddenly retired from Test cricket at the end of the first Test, wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne had been given a chance to play in the second Test and is likely to retain his place here. Dean Elgar, Temba Bavuma, and Keegan Petersen have batted well for South Africa in the last two matches. They are the leading South African batsmen who have played well against the Indian pacers. All four fast bowlers, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Duanne Olivier, and Lungi Ngidi have excelled in the series.
Weather Report
The probability of precipitation in Cape Town is 64 percent on January 11. Luckily, there is less probability of rain on the second day of the match and on the third day. On the fourth day, only one percent rain is expected, and on the fifth day, i.e., January 15, it increases to just 19 percent. Therefore, the weather will be clear for the rest of the four days except on the first day of the match.
Pitch Report
The Newlands ground helps the bowlers more. However, batsmen can play a long innings here after playing well in the opening session. But the fast bowlers will get a lot of swings here. The average first innings score in 58 Tests played here is 328, 296 in the second innings, 235 in the third innings, and 161 in the fourth innings. After winning the toss, the teams can opt to bat first.
Probable Playing XI for India
KL Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma
Probable Playing XI for South Africa
Dean Elgar (c), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Duanne Olivier, Lungi Ngidi
Key Player
India:
KL Rahul
Mayank Agarwal
South Africa:
Dean Elgar
Lungi Ngidi
