South Africa vs India 2013: 2nd ODI, Durban - South Africa Team Preview

South Africans are in a state of mourning. On Thursday, close to the midnight, they suffered the loss of their one and only Madiba; Nelson Mandela had passed away at around 8.50 pm.

After struggling in the bed for a period of three months, he died peacefully, living a life for the freedom of the Rainbow Nation. Friday was declared the day of mourning, and the match day was declared as the day of prayer.

Although there was some doubt on whether the series would continue due to this, the South African government has given CSA a go ahead to continue the series. Sunday will witness players wearing black armbands, observing a minute’s silence, and flags will be at half-mast in order to pay respect to the Father of the Nation of South Africa.

Respects being paid to Nelson Mandela at the second Test of Ashes

With all these proceedings and so much mourning across the nation, it has been forgotten that a series is on and that the hosts lead this encounter 1-0.

Fireworks from Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy and AB de Villiers and some terrific bowling from Ryan McLaren, Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn have absolutely flattened the hopes of this Indian team which was supposedly in great form until a few weeks ago.

Helped by some extremely ordinary, even below par bowling from the Indian quicks on a helpful South African pitch, the home team used the advantage of knowing the tracks to the fullest and thus played very sensible cricket throughout the match.

The positives to take from the game were that all the top order batsmen found good form, with four of them scoring half centuries, something that the South Africans were worried about before the series began.

Also, they managed to pick up wickets at the right intervals, and that helped to keep the required run-rate quite high. Good fielding also resulted in two run-outs of key batsmen, thus, the team all-round is doing well.

They can definitely expect a stronger fight from the Indians during the second match. South Africa shouldn’t expect another fifty overs of sloppy bowling. They will even have to make sure that they don’t slack in the bowling department as Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and MS Dhoni looked very good when they were batting.

Players under focus:

Jacques Kallis: No batsman prizes his wicket more highly, and no wicket in all of cricket is more highly prized. Jacques Kallis is the broad-shouldered colossus of the South African team, a figure whose looming presence inspires calm in some and dread in others. He signifies experience and could be a handful for the Indians with both bat and ball in his hands.

He was drafted into the squad back again after not playing for almost six months post the IPL to provide some strength to a tottering SA top order. Although he hit a half century on comeback, he is yet to really create an impact as both a bowler and a batsman.

Kallis at a practice session

Quinton de Kock: It was de Kock’s second century in his 14th one-day international and the South African wicketkeeper combined power with finesse as he hit 18 fours and three sixes in the first ODI. If his explosive batting is anything to go by, the men in blue are in for a fierce battle. He is confident, and still raring to go as this series could be his opportunity to cement a place in the squad.

Quinton de Kock was on song in the 1st ODI

Weather and ground conditions:

The host city for this match is Durban. It’s home to the Kingsmead stadium where a temperature of about 20 degrees celsius likely to prevail. Kingsmead’s easterly location – but within the same timezone as the rest of South Africa – means it is prone to bad light, and the humid climate can result in powerful thunderstorms. It has historically remained such a ground to play on and still remains the same way for the next game with rain predicted during the evening time.

Not called the ‘Green Mamba’ for nothing, the Kingsmead pitch is notorious for providing assistance to the faster men. The wicket is laid slightly below sea level – leading to a theory that high tide generally brings a flurry of wickets. While all-seam bowling outfits have been common in the past at Kingsmead, South Africa are likely to stick to their previous combination and hope to seal the series here.

In the last two matches played here, the average first innings score has been 228 runs and the team that bats second has managed to win it both times.

In both of those matches, one in 2013 and the other in 2011, South Africa had won the toss, decided to bat first and lost the game. So, the trend would be to win the toss and put the opposition to bat first.

In 38 games played till date, the average first innings score in the ground has been 233 and about 8 wickets have fallen in a day at a strike rate of 36.

Quotes:

“That would be my advice. Be prepared to get out.” – AB de Villiers on Dale Steyn’s capabilities as a bowler.

“His stories, light heartedness and smile will stay with me forever!”, tweeted Graeme Smith the day after Nelson Mandela’s death.

Team (expected):

AB de Villiers (capt), Jacques Kallis, Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Jean Paul Duminy, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsosobe.

Match begins at 10.00 am local time (1.30 pm IST)