South Africa and India will kick off a multi-format series with an exciting first T20I match at Durban's Kingsmead on Sunday, December 10. Both teams enter this game with the majority of the squad comprising of young cricketers with one eye on the next year's T20 World Cup 2024 in West Indies.
Indian cricket team enter this series after thrashing Australia by 4-1 at home after the recent ICC World Cup 2023. South Africa are set to return to action for the first time after their disappointing loss against Australia in the World Cup 2023 semifinal.
Captain Temba Bavuma and star pacer Kagiso Rabada are rested for the white-ball series. Aiden Markram leads the team with Ottniel Baartman and Nandre Burger in line to make their T20I debut. For India, senior figures Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah remain out but the likes of Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja return to the T20I setup. Suryakumar Yadav leads the team after an impressive leadership showing against Australia.
Kingsmead, Durban Pitch Report
Durban's Kingsmead offers a balanced surface in white-ball cricket. The average first innings score here is 153 with teams winning 11 of 22 matches batting first. However, Australia thrashed South Africa by 3-0 in the last T20I series here which also turned into a run-fest. So, fans can expect a high-scoring clash on Sunday and teams are likely to prefer to chase.
Kingsmead, Durban Records and Stats
Total T20 Matches: 22
Matches won batting first: 11
Matches won bowling first: 9
Average first innings score: 153
Average second innings score: 135
Highest total scored: 226/6 by Australia vs South Africa
Highest score chased: 191/5 by Australia vs South Africa
Lowest total recorded: 73/10 by Kenya vs New Zealand
Lowest total defended: 125/6 by South Africa Women vs West Indies Women
India T20I squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Kishan (wk), Mukesh Kumar, Washington Sundar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Yadav
South Africa T20I T20I squad: Reeza Hendricks, Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Gerald Coetzee, Nandre Burger, Tabraiz Shamsi, Ottniel Baartman, Marco Jansen, Donovan Ferreira, Lizaad Williams
