Big picture: We have an ODI series decider
If this series felt like an afterthought before, the ODI on Tuesday night confirmed it, when the broadcast in India kept talking about the IPL auction instead of the cricket that was happening. A South Africa victory though has given this upcoming game proper stakes. It's a decider and that's the kind of pressure both of these teams will want to put their next gen under as they continue on their path of transition.
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.
Form guide
South Africa WLLWL
India LWLWW
In the spotlight: Sanju Samson and Lizaad Williams
He didn't get to bat in the first game, didn't bat long enough in the second, what does the third hold in store? Sanju Samson, in this latest avatar, has been given the finisher's role in one-day cricket. He doesn't really do that in the IPL or even for his domestic team but needs must sometimes. Samson has been around for eight years in international cricket and yet this will only be his 16th ODI. For a player who is capable of making the game look bafflingly simple, its baffling that he hasn't made more of an impact.
Lizaad Williams produced one of the balls of the match on Tuesday, getting lift off just back of a length to dismiss Sai Sudharsan. South Africa seemed to read the pitch in Gqeberha well, bringing him in for a spinner, and he made sure they could be very happy with their decision. Fast bowlers who are always at you, whether they have express pace or not, will find ways to survive and Williams has done that. It's taken until he was 27 years old to break into international cricket. He'll want more chances to prove he belongs here.
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
Pitch and conditions: It's party time
Boland Park is a fun place to be and the festive season is only going to add to the atmosphere. It's going to be a hot day though with the temperature expected to hit the 36C. In terms of the pitch, it tends to be a bit slow and a bit low. The most recent ODIs there - two in January 2022 and one in February 2020 - fetched first-innings totals of 287, 296 and 291.
Stats and trivia: Scores to settle
These two teams have faced each other 15 times in bilateral ODI series with India edging tally 7-6.
Kuldeep Yadav is close to breaking into the top 10 wicket-takers for India in ODIs. He has 168 in 103 matches. His strike rate of 30 is better than everybody above him except Mohammed Shami.
Aiden Markram needs three runs to get to 1000 in ODIs this year. It will be the first time in his career that he will hit that high.
