India vs South Africa 2020, 1st ODI: Predicted XI, match prediction, live streaming, weather forecast, and pitch report

The last time India played an ODI series against South Africa at home, it was in 2015 and it turned out to be a very close series with the visitors eventually winning it by 3-2.

The South African team is in a transition phase now and a lot of the players who took part in that famous series victory against India four years back are not in the South African set-up anymore.

However, Quinton de Kock’s boys would have taken a lot of confidence from the spirited performance that they put on against Australia recently.

It was South Africa’s first triumph after a while in any format of the game and they would now want to build onto it with another solid outing in the three-match series against India.

The two teams will meet for the first game of the series in Dharamshala on Thursday and given that it’s a very short series, both teams will be keen to win the first game and take an early advantage.

This series is very important from India’s point of view as well, as they are coming from a 3-0 whitewash at the hands of New Zealand.

The Men in Blue are still without the services of their vice-captain, Rohit Sharma, who is unfit and has not been named in the 15-member squad announced for the series.

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Match details:

Date: March 12, 2020 (Thursday)

Time: 01:30 pm IST

Venue: HPCA Stadium, Dharamshala

Weather Forecast

Thursday's weather forecast for Dharamshala is not great. The humidity is on the higher side and there are 100% chances of rain with thunderstorm.

The drainage system at the ground is world-class, but if it rains for a substantial part of the day, the game might be washed out.

It will be a cold day as well, with the minimum and maximum temperatures expected to be 7 degrees and 11 degrees Celsius respectively.

Pitch Report

Dharamshala has always dished out great batting pitches and it’s expected to be no different this time around.

The fast bowlers might get a little bit of assistance because of the overcast conditions, but the pitch will have bounce and carry and the ball will come onto the bat nicely, which will help the stroke-players.

Probable XI

India: Hardik Pandya is back and he will be slotted at no. 7, but India might still not play both the wrist spinners together and persist with Ravindra Jadeja, given the recent form of the Saurashtra southpaw.

Shikhar Dhawan will open the batting with Prithvi Shaw, while Manish Pandey is all set to be given a long rope at no. 6, with Kedar Jadhav out of the side now.

Predicted XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

South Africa: Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen have been brought back into the squad, but South Africa might not be able to accommodate both of them in the playing XI. Janneman Malan will open with Quinton de Kock, while du Plessis might bat at no. 3.

Jon-Jon Smuts, Heinrich Klaasen, and David Miller will form the middle-order, while Andile Phehlukwayo is likely to be the all-rounder, batting at no. 7.

Predicted XI: Quinton de Kock, Janneman Malan, Faf du Plessis, Jon-Jon Smuts, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Beuran Hendricks

Prediction

South Africa’s record in ODI cricket in India has been decent over the years and given the fact that the Indian team is a bit low on confidence at the moment, the visitors might surprise the Men in Blue in the first game. The prediction is for the Proteas to win the match and take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Telecast and streaming

TV: Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi

Streaming: Hotstar app