IND vs SA, 1st T20I: Pitch and weather reports
India will look to extend their sensational run in bilateral series as they meet hosts South Africa in the opener of the three-match T20I series. The Men in Blue are without the services of several key players. India won their last bilateral T20I series in SA in 2018. The Proteas would hope for a turnaround this time. Here are the pitch and weather reports.
A look at the track conditions
The iconic Kingsmead in Durban will host the series opener on December 10 (7:30pm IST). The track here usually offers a balanced surface in white-ball cricket. Australia thrashed SA 3-0 in a high-scoring T20I series here in August-September this year. Fans can witness another high-scoring thriller as the ball comes onto the bat nicely. The toss-winning skipper is likely to chase.
Will rain play a part?
The weather forecast on the match day does not look too promising as there are 20% chances of rain. As per Accuweather, it will be a cloudy day as the conditions would assist the fast bowlers. The temperature would hover around 20-24 degrees Celsius. The humidity levels are expected to be around 80%. Hence, dew can play a part.
Here are the stadium stats
Teams batting first have won 11 and lost nine T20Is here with the average first-innings score being 153. Australia own the highest-successful chase at this venue, 191 versus South Africa, 2023. While SA have five wins and six defeats in T20Is here, India have won all their four concluded T20Is here, including Super Over games.
A look at the playing XIs
South Africa's possible XI: Reeza Hendricks, Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs, Aiden Markram (C), Heinrich Klaasen (WK), David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Gerald Coetzee, Nandre Burger, Tabraiz Shamsi. India's possible XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.
