The first of three T20 Internationals between South Africa and India takes place at Kingsmead, Durban on Sunday and we take a look at the squads, recent form and the all important betting.
This is a 3 match series after which the teams will contest a 3 match ODI series and then we have 2 test matches to look forward to.
Let's start with the squads.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (c), Ottniel Baartman, Matthew Breetzke, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Lizaad Williams
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar
Recent Form
South Africa
The Proteas most recent T20 action came in August/September this year and they lost all 3 matches to Australia. All the games were staged at Kingsmead and Australia won by margins of 111 runs, 8 wickets and 5 wickets.
Prior to that South Africa were beaten 2-1 by West Indies in a 3 match home series in March, losing a rain affected opener by 3 wickets, squaring things up with a 6 wicket win and then losing the decider by 7 runs.
India:
India hosted Australia in a 5 match series in November and December this year and they won it 4-1. They beat Nepal and Bangladesh in October and were 2-0 winners in Ireland in August. Their last series defeat came against West Indies in the Caribbean and USA in August when they were beaten 3-2.
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 24 times with 10 wins for South Africa and 13 for India with 1 no result
The most recent series came in August / September in India in 2022 and it was shared 2-2
Kingsmead, Durban
Over the course of the last decade South Africa have won 3 and lost 5 of 8 T20's at Kingsmead
You can check the weather forecast here
The Betting - 1st T20
At the time of writing South Africa are even money to win the match and India are 8/11
Reeza Hendricks, Markram and Klaasen are all priced at 7/2 to top score for South Africa and Shubman Gill is 11/4 to do likewise for India
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
The next T20 World Cup takes place in the middle of next year and the Proteas need to find some form after showing us very little in the 3 match series against the Aussies at this venue.
I'm looking to the top run scorer markets and I'll take my chances with Heinrich Klaasen and Suryakumar Yadav.
Bets: Top South African Run Scorer Heinrich Klaasen at 7/2 with Sportingbet
Top Indian Scorer Suryakumar Yadav at 4/1 with Sportingbet
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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