The third and final T20I of the series between India and South Africa at Bengaluru on Sunday is going to be a thrilling affair. On one side, India, who are already 1-0 up, would be eager to seal the fate of the series in their favour. On the other side, South Africa would be desperate to win this match in order to draw the series level. And the onus will be on some key players from both the teams to lead the charge for their respective sides. So, who are those game-changers? Let’s have a look at them.
Virat Kohli: The Indian skipper led India from the front with his batting performance in the previous match. Kohli remained unbeaten on 72 to lead India to a seven-wicket victory over the Proteas. With this inning, his T20I average against South Africa shot straight up to 40.82 from just 28.83. Moreover, he has scored over 2500 T20 runs at this venue at an average of 37.20 and a strike-rate of 140.67.
Deepak Chahar: The Indian pacer played a pivotal role in keeping the Proteas batsmen in leash in the previous match. He bowled an excellent spell of 4-0-22-2 which included a wicket each both at the beginning of the South African inning and at the death as well. First, he dismissed Reeza Hendricks by forcing him to play a rash shot and then he took out Temba Bavuma at the death by forcing him to play the big shot once again. Chahar now has six wickets in just three T20Is at an excellent average and economy rate of 11.5 and 6.27 respectively.
Quinton de Kock: The South African skipper played an excellent hand in the previous match. He played a stroke-filled knock of 52 runs off 37 deliveries while opening the inning. His knock consisted of eight hits to the fence and he looked to be in good touch overall. Moreover, de Kock has a good batting record at Bengaluru as well. In 10 T20s at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, de Kock has scored 384 runs at an average of 38.40 and a strike-rate of 146.56. So, he looks all set to fire once again.
Kagiso Rabada: The South African pacer wasn’t quite at his best in the previous match. But the Proteas will need him to perform at the best of his abilities if they want to stand a chance of winning this match. Rabada has good memories of this venue. Even though he has played only one T20 match here, he had registered a four-wicket haul in the same encounter and, that too, at an economy rate of only 5.25 during his four-over spell.