Big picture: We have an ODI series decider
Tony de Zorzi, scoring a century in just his fourth ODI, and B Sai Sudharsan, getting off the mark in international cricket with the sweetest cover-driven boundary and topping that up by scoring a fifty in difficult batting conditions, both exemplified the talent that will forever keep coming through, which is useful because it seems like cricket never takes a day off. There’s always something on the horizon. A Champions Trophy in little over a year’s time. A T20 World Cup in about six months.
So with those stakes in mind, even if the personal ones seem rather more prominent, this battle of the second strings between South Africa and India will hit fever pitch on Thursday. One of these up-and-comers will have their day under the sun tomorrow and their life might never be the same again. You really don’t want to miss it.
South Africa WLLWL
India LWLWW
In the spotlight: Sanju Samson and Lizaad Williams
Team news: Will India try more new faces?
Conditions in Paarl may dictate whether South Africa sacrifice a pacer for a spinner. Tabraiz Shamsi and his skillset is always a tempting pick.
South Africa (probable): 1 Reeza Hendricks, 2 Tony de Zorzi, 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 Aiden Markram (capt.), 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 David Miller, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Wiaan Mulder, 9 Nandre Burger, 10 Keshav Maharaj, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi/Lizaad Williams
India gave Rinku Singh a debut in the last game. Might they consider giving Rajat Patidar one in the decider?
India (probable): 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 B Sai Sudharsan, 3 Tilak Varma, 4 KL Rahul (capt. & wk), 5 Sanju Samson, 6. Rajat Patidar/Rinku Singh, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Arshdeep Singh, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Mukesh Kumar