India vs South Africa | 1st T20I Preview, Match Predictions, Weather, Line-ups, Live Streaming, Press Conferences

Preview

India remain the heavy favourites going into the game yet again as South Africa didn’t seem to actually shake off their struggles against the wrist spinning duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in the last ODI. To compound their misery even further, India become doubly dangerous in T20Is with death bowling specialists, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, getting more effective.

South Africa, on the other hand, have brought in new faces like of Reeza Hendricks, Junior Dala, Christiaan Jonker and more to the T20I squad, who will bring in a fresh atmosphere in the dressing room from their RAM Slam heroics. 

Who Said What

"If I look at the pink day and shortened game, the platform was set for almost T20 style of play and I think that type of mindset brought out the best in us. So I am quite excited to see how we go about it in terms of this format now and irrespective of who we come up against." - JP Duminy

Read the full report here.

"Every day is a new game and it's a different format, you respect that format, go in with the same ideology you went into the ODIs and work ethics will remain the same. If you do that then I am sure the intensity will be there as well." - Ravi Shastri

Read the full report here.

Match Prediction

Betting Odds- India to win 4/6, South Africa to win 6/5. 

Predicted XI:

South Africa: Reeza Hendricks, JJ Smuts, AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy (c), David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Junior Dala, Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal

Playing XI: 

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni(w), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

South Africa (Playing XI): JJ Smuts, Reeza Hendricks, Jean-Paul Duminy(c), David Miller, Farhaan Behardien, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dane Paterson, Junior Dala, Tabraiz Shamsi

Pitch conditions:

After the infamous pitch scandal earlier during the Test series, the ODI at Wanderers also saw rain interruption. India would hope to finish things off today without running into any such bumps. The pitch had pace and bounce last time and it is expected to continue this time too.  

Weather Update: 

Like the last time, there are chances of rain late on Sunday evening and with the game starting in the afternoon, it should avoid any interruptions. The last game saw rain for over two hours, which even ran the risk of a full washout as the outfield took long to dry.

Where:

New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

When: 

South Africa vs India, 1st T20I, Feb 18, 02:30 PM LOCAL, 06:00 IST

TV Listings:

Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 1 HD, Sony Ten 3, Sony Ten 3 HD

Live Streams: 

SonyLiv, Espn.in (for Indian sub-continent only)