After a disappointing T20 series against South Africa, India will be looking to make amends when they take on the Proteas in the first of five ODIs on Sunday.
South Africa looked a confident and classy side in the 20 over games and they will be looking to continue that in this series ahead of the lengthy Test match series which follows.
India go into this series having beaten Zimbabwe in their last 50 over series but you get the feeling that the T20 series has provided more questions than answers and a slow start to these five matches could have longer and larger effects.
South Africa are building nicely as a 50 over side and I would imagine with the next World Cup in England in 2019 they will be putting plenty of effort into the next four years. Their seamers will be under the microscope here.
Umesh Yadav looks set to return to the side having sat out the T20 series but all eyes will be on India’s batsmen here after they were shot out in the 90s in the last of the completed 20 over matches last week.
South Africa are bringing Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel into their side for this series so they are going to be even stronger than they were in the 20 over matches which is a daunting prospect for India. Rilee Rossouw is out but South Africa are at full strength otherwise.
Green Park in Kanpur is the venue for this series opener. There have been 13 previous ODIs on this ground with India having a strong 9-3 winning record here. South Africa will be playing here for the first time.
The boundaries are pretty big here so sixes might not come as easily as some grounds later in the series. It is a day game too so the heat is going to have a serious impact on the action but we should still expect a pretty high scoring game with the outfield likely to be lightning fast in the conditions.
India’s record here makes me think they will win this match but I’m in no rush to back them until they start scoring runs again so I’ll look to the side markets for a bet and one stands out in particular.
The sixes line is at 9.5 which looks a touch high to me. South Africa are at full strength with the ball now and although AB de Villiers is in their line up they don’t hit as many sixes in this format as in the 20 over one.
You would think India might struggle to regularly get this Proteas attack away and after being shot out in the 2nd T20 they might have a cautious safety first approach so I’m not sure we’ll see double figures for sixes in this one.
Back Under 9.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
