Who will win India vs South Africa, 1st T20?
South Africa will begin their tour of India with a three-match T20 international series. The first T20I is scheduled to be played on September 15 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala. Live telecast of the match will begin at 7 PM local time.
South Africa will be playing their first bilateral series post the ICC World Cup held in England a couple of months ago. The tournament was nothing less than a disaster for the Proteas who failed to make it past the league stage after losing five out of their eight completed matches. India, on the other hand, last played international cricket just recently - during their month-long tour of the West Indies and the USA which began last month. It was a 100% successful tour for them as they did not face a single defeat having played the Windies in two tests, three ODIs and as many T20Is.
IND vs SA, 1st T20: Where to watch/Live streaming
TV channels: Star Sports, Sky Sports Cricket, Fox Sports, SuperSport, OSN Sports Cricket HD, Willow TV
Live Streaming: Bet365, Hotstar, SuperSport Live, Now TV
IND vs SA Toss Prediction
The team that wins the toss here is more likely to chase. This is because seam bowlers could get more assistance early on in the game due to the moisture present underneath the surface. Moreover, DLS method could also come into play and that generally favors the side batting second.
IND vs SA Weather Report
There is a good chance of showers accompanied by thunderstorms on Sunday evening. The meteorological department has predicted plenty of cloud cover throughout the match. Temperature is expected to be around 16-17 degrees Celsius and humidity around 80%.
IND vs SA Pitch Condition
Australia vs New Zealand in 2016 is the most recent T20 international played at Dharamsala. It was a World T20 game where New Zealand managed to defend their moderate total of 142. The pitch had something in it for both batsmen and bowlers and one can expect a similar surface for this game as well.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds and match prediction for India vs South Africa, 1st T20...
India Team News & Playing 11
IND Team News
India's 15-man T20I squad has a few big names missing. The likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have all been rested for this IND vs SA T20 series, thus presenting opportunities to the less experienced players like Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Rahul Chahar, Washington Sundar and Khaleel Ahmed. All-rounder Hardik Pandya has returned and will join his brother Krunal Pandya in the squad. MS Dhoni, however, continues to make himself unavailable for selection.
IND Key Players
Rohit Sharma: The opening batsman is India's leading run-getter in the T20 internationals with 2422 runs which includes 4 hundreds and 17 fifties. Rohit had cracked 106 off just 66 balls in the T20I against South Africa at this ground in 2015 and the team will want him to deliver a similar performance on Sunday.
Virat Kohli: The India skipper is always a key player for his team irrespective of the format. He has scored the most runs for India in T20Is after Rohit Sharma and has 21 half-centuries under his belt. Kohli was also the best batsman for his side in the recent T20I series against the West Indies.
Navdeep Saini: The fast bowler has been impressive in the game's shortest format. He finished as the best bowler in the T20I series against the Windies with five wickets and an economy rate of 7.09. Navdeep is likely to bowl in the powerplay and he will be expected to make a few early strikes.
IND Recent Form
India have won four and lost as many T20 internationals out of the eight they have played so far this year. Their most recent T20I assignment was a three-match series against the West Indies which came last month. The first two of those were played at Lauderhill and the third at Guyana and India went on to win all the three matches. Prior to that series, however, India lost 1-2 to New Zealand in New Zealand and 0-2 to Australia at home.
India Predicted Playing 11
Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Manish Pandey/Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, K Khaleel Ahmed
South Africa Team News & Playing 11
SA Team News
South Africa have left out Faf du Plessis from their 14-man T20I squad and have given Quinton de Kock the responsibility to lead the team in this series. The visitors have appointed Rassie van der Dussen as de Kock's deputy for the series. The selectors have roped in three uncapped players in Bjorn Fortuin, Anrich Nortje and Temba Bavuma. JJ Smuts, meanwhile, has been ruled out of the series after having failed to pass a fitness test. Smuts has been replaced in the squad by all-rounder George Linde.
SA Key Players
Reeza Hendricks: The opening batsman seems to be in good nick at the moment with back-to-back fifties while playing for South Africa A against India A. Hendricks had also topped the runs charts in the home T20I series against Sri Lanka earlier this year.
Quinton de Kock: He has been appointed as the team's captain for this series and he will be looking to lead from the front. The left-handed batsman is one of South Africa's leading run-scorers in the format and he struck a half-century in his previous international innings - two months ago against Australia in the World Cup.
Kagiso Rabada: The South African quick will pose the biggest threat to the Indian batsmen in this T20I series. He has picked 25 wickets in the 19 matches he has played in the format and the onus will be on him to rattle India's top-order in the powerplay overs.
SA Recent Form
South Africa have been faring well of late in the shortest format of the game. They have four wins, a tie and a loss from the six T20 internationals they have played this year. The Proteas have won their last four bilateral T20I series on the bounce; they beat Zimbabwe 2-0 and then Australia in a one-off match before beating Pakistan 2-1 and Sri Lanka 3-0 in back-to-back home series. The only 20-over game that South Africa have lost this year was against Pakistan in February at Centurion.
South Africa Predicted Playing 11
Quinton de Kock (c/wk), Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Junior Dala, Beuran Hendricks, Tabraiz Shamsi
India vs South Africa Head to Head
India and South Africa have played 13 T20 internationals against each other in the past with the former holding a 8-5 advantage over the latter.
The two countries last played a T20I series against each other last year in February. It was a series of three matches held in South Africa where India emerged victorious 2-1.
India have faced South Africa only once at Dharamsala in the game's 20-over format. The high-scoring match was played in October 2015 with the visitors ending up winning by seven wickets.
IND vs SA Head to Head Stats
| Matches Played |
IND Won |
SA Won |
Tie |
No Result |
| 13 |
8 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
India vs South Africa Betting Odds
India are favorites to win this first T20 international at 1.45 with Betway, 1.44 with Bet365 and 1.40 with 10CRIC. South Africa are the underdogs for this game at 2.50 with Betway, 2.75 with Bet365 and 2.60 with 10CRIC.
🏆 India vs South Africa Prediction
South Africa have been showing impressive form lately in the game's 20-over format and they are coming into this match having won each of their last four T20I series. They beat India convincingly in the only T20 international that has been played between these two sides at Dharamsala and that should also give them plenty of confidence. India, however, have the upper hand in terms of head-to-head count with eight wins from thirteen face-offs. The hosts may have an inexperienced bowling attack but they are still favorites to start the series off with a win.
Sep 15 - Sep 15, 2019
19:00 IST / 13:30 GMT
HPCA Stadium - Dharamshala, India
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