What

The third of the five One-Day Internationals between India and South Africa. The match is a Day/Night affair.

When

January 18, 2011. The game begins at 6 pm, IST.

Where

Newlands, Cape Town.

The Teams:

With India winning in Johannesburg, the series is now down to a best-of-three affair. India would be hampered by the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, owing to a hamstring injury. With Parthiv Patel, Tendulkar’s replacement, likely to be available in South Africa only before the last game, it will be interesting to see who India open the batting with. Murali’s Vijay’s disappointing scores of 1 (Durban) and 16 (Johannesburg) will only add to the visitors’ opening woes.

Besides that, the Indian middle order is yet to come together to produce a match-winning performance. Between them, that segment of the Indian lineup has only two half-centuries (Virat Kohli at Durban and Yuvraj Singh in Johannesburg) to its credit. They will need to come good if India are to harbour any hopes of taking a series lead. Additionally, India should look to bat first if they win the toss, leaving South Africa the daunting task of chasing a target under lights.

The hosts’ pacers cannot be faulted for their performances in the two matches thus far. In both games they have managed to bowl India out within the allotted 50 overs. It is the batting which needs to do better. Colin Ingram’s scores of 5 and 25 and David Miller’s scores of 9 and 27 have both been causes for worry. If South Africa persist with both players, the expectation for both to perform will be huge, particularly if they have to make a case for a World Cup selection.

Venue quick stats:

South Africa: Played – 28, Won – 25, Lost – 3, Tied – 0, NR - 0

India: Played – 3, Won – 1, Lost – 2, Tied – 0, NR - 0

Highest Total: South Africa 354/3 in 50 overs v Kenya – October 22, 2001

Lowest Total: Pakistan 43 in 19.5 overs v West Indies – February 25, 1993

Best Individual score:Neil McKenzie (South Africa) 131* v Kenya – October 22, 2001

Best bowling figures in an innings:Henry Olonga (Zimbabwe) 8.2-3-19-6 v England – January 28, 2000

Probable playing XIs:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra

South Africa:Graeme Smith (c), Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, AB de Villiers (wk), Colin Ingram, David Miller, Johan Botha, Wayne Parnell/Faf du Plessis, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn and Lonwabo Tsotsobe