3rd ODI: India opt to bowl against South Africa in Visakhapatnam series decider

VISAKHAPATNAM (Andhra Pradesh): India won the toss and elected to field against South Africa in the third and final ODI of the series at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

The last time India won the toss in an ODI was during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final against New Zealand at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

KL Rahul’s team India is set to take on Temba Bavuma’s South Africa in the series-decider third ODI on Saturday. The series is tied 1-1, with India winning the first match in Ranchi and South Africa levelling things up in Raipur. Both previous games saw the team bat first after posting more than 340 runs.

Virat Kohli has been in a brilliant run in the series with two back-to-back centuries and is the highest run scorer in the series, while Kuldeep Yadav has scalped the most wickets in the series, with five wickets under his belt in two matches.

“We are going to bowl first. We trained here last night, there was dew, and it didn’t come in early as Ranchi and Raipur. We want to chase the total and see how we can bowl first. Looks like a good wicket. We are really happy with the way we have played in the last two games. Considering the conditions, we have done well, and there are a lot of positives to take. Not many things we are looking to change. One change. Washington misses out, Tilak comes in,” KL Rahul said.

“We would have bowled first. A good start upfront will set it up for the middle order. It’s been entertaining. The crowd has come out. Hope today’s another thrilling one. Two changes. Rickelton and Baartman come in. They (Burger and de Zorzi) will be out for a couple of weeks,” Bavuma said.

South Africa (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Matthew Breetzke, Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman.

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna. (ANI)