South Africa and India all set for the series decider
Stage is set for both India and South Africa, who will go head-to-head in the final match of the One Day International series being played in South Africa. The final match will be played at Centurion and both teams are leveled at 2-2.
This series has been a good one for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in South Africa. However, things were different this time.
The team started the series with a lost test match but then bounced back with a win in the second test match to level the test series. After that, the Indian team won the lone Twenty20 of the series before the start of the ODIs.
The start to the ODI series was also not promising for the visitors as they were crushed by a big margin of 135 runs. However, the team bounced back in the second and third match and took a 2-1 lead in the series. The Proteas were in a spot of bother but
they took the fourth match of the series to level it.
Both teams had some injury problems throughout the series and India is without three of their leading batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gautam-Gambhir-c58623. The team does have some other batsmen who have done well and help their team give a fight
to the mighty South Africans.
There have been some good performances from individuals in the series but the team hasn’t clicked as a unit. There will be a lot of pressure on the senior members of the team in the decider of the series.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virat-Kohli-c95424 has done well in the series so far but he has lacked support from the middle order batsmen. Yuvraj Singh has looked good in patches but he hasn’t been consistent.
The team will also be expecting Yusuf Pathan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 to provide them the fire-power in the death overs.
Bowling has been comparatively good for the Indians. Zaheer Khan has been led the attack nicely and he will be missing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Praveen-Kumar-c82600 who sustained an injury before the start of this series.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ashish-Nehra-c46293 has been below par and needs to lift his game up. The spinners have done a better job for the Indian team. Harbhajan Singh has enjoyed the bounce and spin of the South African wickets.
The Proteas looked like the better team after the end of the first test match. However, the team has not been at its best after that. There have been many mixed performances from the players and the batsmen have struggled to score runs in the middle of the
innings.
The hosts have struggled to play the spinners as they have collapsed several times in the series. They are without their key player Jacques Kallis but the middle order batsmen have been inconsistent.
Only player who has scored runs consistently has been http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JP-Duminy-c1742. Hashim Amla has also been in good touch but he has thrown away his wicket in the series on a couple of occasions.
The blowers have done a good job for the Proteas but the spin bowling hasn’t been that consistent for them.
All in all, both teams are almost evenly matched and a thrilling final match can be expected on the 23rd of January.
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