The Wanderers is the venue for the fourth and final T20 International between South Africa and India, the final match of the series which India now lead 2-1.
India won the first match by 61 runs in Durban on Friday of last week, the Proteas squared things up with a 3 wicket win at St. Georges on Sunday and India reclaimed the lead with an 11 run win at Centurion on Wednesday.
India lost the toss and were invited to bat first at Supersport Park on Wednesday and they posted 219/6 with Tilak Varma top scoring with 107 off 56 balls including 7 of India's 13 maximums. Abhishek Sharma made 50, clearing the ropes 5 times and although he only took 1 wicket, Marco Jansen was arguably the pick of the SA bowlers with his 4 overs costing just 28 runs.
The Proteas top 4 in the batting order all got starts but failed to kick on and the hosts fell behind the asking rate. Heinrich Klaasen then hit 41 off 22 and Jansen smashed 54 off 17 but the innings closed on 208/7 and India held on for an 11 run victory. The Proteas also hit 13 sixes and Arshdeep Singh (3/37) and Axar Patel (1/29) fared best of the Indian bowlers.
This was how the teams lined up for the third match.
South Africa: Ryan Rickelton, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Lutho Sipamla
India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh , Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 30 times in this format with South Africa winning 12 to India's 17 and there has been 1 no result
The Venue, The Wanderers, Johannesburg
Overall the Proteas have played 25 T20's at The Wanderers, winning 14 and losing 11although 4 of the last 5 have seen the hosts beaten
In the most recent T20 at this venue in December 2023 South Africa lost to India by 106 runs. Batting first India posted 201/7 (Suryakumar Yadav 100) and the Proteas were bowled out for just 95.
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The Betting
At the time of writing South Africa are trading at 11/10 to win the game and India are 0.73/1 with BoyleSports.
Prices subject to change
The Verdict
India have got the upper hand but generally it's been competitive enough to suggest the Proteas could still salvage a drawn series.
My betting interest for the final match comes in the Player Performance market and visiting skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who has a Wanderers T20 ton to his name, is taken to beat his quote.
Bet: Player Performance, Suryakumar Yadav over 30.5 at 17/20 with BoyleSports
