South Africa will make a second attempt to kick off their tour of India on Wednesday, after the first scheduled match was rained out in Dharamsala on Sunday. The two sides meet in what is the second T20 in Mohali with both teams knowing that a win will ensure they can’t lose the series.
It is of course much more than that for both of them though. This match will kick off the preparation to the next T20 World Cup which takes place in Australia next year so there should be a competitive edge to the contest.
India
We obviously can’t add too much to our preview of the first T20 but the one thing that we would say is that their batsmen will be in the spotlight here on what is always a good batting wicket, as we see time and again when the Kings XI Punjab play on this ground. It isn’t the smallest ground in India but the outfield is always rapid and the pitch always looks an absolute beauty so India will need to put up big runs.
There is often some pace and bounce in this track which will keep their quicker bowlers interested, but the intriguing thing about this match is whether the spinners can get anything out of the wicket. If they can’t the ball might sit up and ask to be hit and there are one or two in the opposing side who will be happy to oblige and send it on its way.
South Africa
You would think that if South Africa bat well in this match they will have every chance of winning it. While their bowling attack isn’t the all-out pace that it was a few years ago, there are still one or two bowlers capable of winging it down with some heat, which on this pitch should be no bad thing. That won’t matter though if they do not put up a decent amount of runs when they have the bat in their hands.
It would seem as though South Africa are going to play a few all-rounders so they are certainly not going to lack for batting depth so there are no excuses for them not to pile on the runs in this match. That will make the contest very interesting indeed if they can, and it will tell India that South Africa might have some big series to come but they are very much here to do a job.
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Team News
We didn’t really get any indication in the first game as to the make up of the two sides. It would appear judging by the net practice that Shikhar Dhawan is going to get the nod to partner Rohit Sharma at the top of the order.
South Africa are expected to give T20 international debuts to Temba Bavuma and Anrich Nortje while Bjorn Fortuin could be rewarded for good domestic performances with his own bow at this level too.
Betting
I took South Africa in the first match of this series which never got off the ground and I’m kind of tempted to take them again at 2/1 but I’m not quite as convinced that conditions will suit them here as I was in Dharamsala so I’ll leave the match outcome alone and instead play the side markets for my bet on the game.
I like over 330.5 runs here. There have been four matches on this ground in this format of the game from an international standpoint and the first innings in them have been 206/7, 180/5, 193/4 and 160/6 so this is a high scoring ground and I’m expecting it to be full of runs here once again. Neither side have their best and most explosive bowling attack out and both have plenty of depth in their batting so over 330.5 runs looks right to me.
Tips
Back Over 330.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betway
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