A farewell, a skirmish

Appetizer: Only T20I - South Africa v India at Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, Jan 9, 2011

The memories of a memorable test series between these two top teams will not be erased any time soon. The only T2oI, however provides a good opportunity for both teams to actually relax and enjoy a bit to wear off the mental weariness and physical exhaustion inflicted by the closely fought test series. On top of that it will be the farewell match for a South African icon, Makhaya Ntini.

Ntini retired in December 2010 after playing in his 101st test match and is busy in setting up a cricket academy especially for his black African community. Unlike his test and ODI records his accomplishments in T20Is are not so good. In 9 matches he has taken 6 wickets at 42 with an economy of 9 but there is no doubt he has been one of the greats for the Proteas. The Cricket South Africa has done a great job in allowing Ntini to bid adieu in front of his home crowd. It will surely be a proud and emotional moment for all those present in Durban including Ntini.

Both teams have met four times in T20Is and India has had a clear upper hand winning three of them. South Africa’s only win came in World T20 in England two years ago. It will be a good chance for both teams to change the mode and the mood before the ODIs. South Africa has a good T20I record having won 25 of the total 37 matched they played. While India has won 14 and lost 11 out of their 27 matches. India has another edge that they have prevailed over South Africa on their home soil in both matches they played while it was here when they had won the inaugural World T20 in 2007.

Double loss of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir ahead of limited overs series has left India with only two potential openers in Sachin Tendulkar and Murali Vijay. Tendulkar might be rested ahead of ODIs. Rohit sharma is another option for them. India will welcome limited overs specialists Virat kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina in their line-up. Yousuf Pathan will provide the fire-power down the order along with skipper MS Dhoni. Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar will synergize with Zaheer Khan, if he is not rested, in fast bowling department. Munaf Patel and Sreesanth will probably sit out. It will be interesting to see who gets the nod among Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha and Ravichandran Ashwin as spinner as Yuvraj, Raina and Yousuf can contribute significantly in this regard. All in all India will be tough to beat under Dhoni’s captaincy.

Hashim Amla is making a return to T20 squad as he has shown he can adjust in all forms of the game. Johan Botha has captained his side admirably so far but he will miss the fire-power of Graeme Smith at the top of the order who has injured his hand and is ruled out. Morne van Wyk has been brought in. AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, David Miller and Colin Ingram are the other batsmen to choose from. Boucher continues to sit out in this format so de Villiers will keep wickets again. Bowling looks weak without Date Steyn and Morne Morkel who are given a well-deserved rest. Rusty Theron, Wayne Parnell and Lonwabo Tsotsobe will have a lot of responsibility to restrict Indian batsmen. Makhaya Ntini surely will try to make his last international match for South Africa a memorable one by giving his best. Robin Peterson may not be required as they will go with just one spinner in Botha himself in all likelihood.

Both teams will try to win this one-off T20I to go in the 5-match ODI series with advantage. Whoever wins, one thing is sure it will not be a one-sided match between these two highly competitive teams. It will be the first match in Moses Mabhida Stadium which is expected to be full to its capacity of 50 thousand for the spectacle.

Likely Teams:

India:- Vijay, Tendulkar/Kohli, Rohit, Yuvraj, Raina, Dhoni, Pathan, Harbhajan/Ashwin, Kumar, Nehra, sreesanth

South Africa:- van Wyk, Amla, de Villiers,Ingram, Duminy, Miller, Botha , Rusty Theron, Wayne Parnell, Makhaya Ntini, Tsotsobe