South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl against India in the third T20I match of their five-match series in Vishakapatnam on Tuesday. Both sides go in unchanged.
“Same thing, bowl again. The colour is different, has a yellowish tinge to it. Feels hard, looks like a good wicket to bat. Same team. Just want to focus on the areas we can improve,” SA skipper Temba Bavuma said after winning the toss.
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Rishabh Pant, who lost the third consecutive toss this series, said India is just looking to play good cricket.
“We would have bowled as well. But as an Indian team we are not looking at the toss too much, just looking to play good cricket. Same team. We spoke about getting better in execution. Planning and tactics are all fine, but and if we can execute better we will be fine. Looks like a better wicket, but feels a bit soft underneath,” Pant said.
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Pant-led side lost their opener in New Delhi by seven wickets and the second game in Cuttack by four wickets last week. Two of India’s leading spinners Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal have given uninspiring performances in the first two matches. While Axar has given away 59 runs, Chahal has been smashed for 75 runs.
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Here is the playing XI for the two sides –
South Africa: Temba Bavuma(c), Reeza Hendricks, Dwaine Pretorius, Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Anrich Nortje
India: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan