South Africa won the toss and chose to bat against India in the fifth T20 International in Bangalore on Sunday. In the absence of injured Temba Bavuma, Keshav Maharaj leads the visitors. South Africa made three changes, replacing Bavuma, Tabraiz Shamsi, and Marco Jansen with Tristan Stubbs, Reeza Hendricks, and Kagiso Rabada. India’s squad remained the same.

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The hosts started the series 2-0 down with a struggling middle order before rallying to win their last two must-win games with finishers who overwhelmed a feared visiting attack. India has the momentum, but South Africa has enough reasons to steal it.

South Africa came into this series riding a wave of T20I success, having won 11 of their previous 12 games. They discovered improbable heroes and proceeded to do so in the first two matches, demonstrating that theirs is a team effort rather than a galaxy of superstars. Some have inevitably emerged in this sequence.

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The most notable is, of course, Dinesh Karthik, who has played T20I cricket from its inception and has evolved his game to meet the format’s progress. He has developed into a finisher and may be looking to the T20 World Cup to complete his career.

Then there’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who writes the opening piece of the play like it’s his script, and Hardik Pandya, who must be in line to lead India shortly. Ishan Kishan has also wowed.

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The garden city match will now decide the fate of the series. Following is the playing XI of the two teams for the match.

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

South Africa: Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Tristan Stubbs, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj(c), Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje