Third ODI: Fans pray for a three-peat from Kohli; India want luck with toss

The star-struck Indian cricket fan may be praying for a third century on the trot from Virat Kohli in the series decider in Visakhapatnam, but it’s equally important for the Men in Blue to stop South Africa from achieving a rare ‘double’ on Indian soil. While this sets up the third ODI nicely, the Indian team management will be hoping for a stroke of luck with the toss first to cope with the dew factor as it’s tilting the scales in favour of the chasing team.

 The first two one-dayers in Ranchi and Raipur saw the Proteas, buoyed by their morale-boosting Test series, making a real match of it against the hosts. The batting friendly surface and feedback of dew to come emboldened them to chase on both occasions – with the visitors falling short by just 17 runs in chasing a 350-run target in the first one and completing a historic chase in the second to level the series 1-1.

  The way the inexperienced Indian pace attack was exposed in both games that it saw stand-in skipper K.L.Rahul, a calm personality in the best of times, pointing a finger at their attack and sloppy fielding for failing to defend a mountain of runs. The buzz on social media had seen a clamour for the experienced paceman Mohammed Shami in place of the profligate Prasiddh Krishna, but the onus is on the team management to try something different – may be someone with lesser pace like Nitish Reddy on these tracks.

Speaking to the media, Matthew Breetzke, who had played crucial roles at number four with scores of 72 and 68 respectively, endorsed that the dew had played it’s part in favour of the batters. ‘’Yes, the dew had played it’s part on both days when we were chasing. However, we will discuss on how to approach the innings should we need to bat first here,’’ he remarked.

 Back to Kohli and of course Rohit Sharma, there is no doubt that their presence has injected the much-needed dose of frenzy to what could have been yet another bilateral series. The Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) have gone on record saying that the demand for tickets, which was at best modest when they opened online sales in the last week of December, have peaked after the back-to-back tons from the master.  

 “The first phase of tickets went on sale on November 28. The response wasn’t good,’’ Y. Venkatesh from the ACA’s Media and Operations team told the local media. “But after Kohli’s hundred at Ranchi, the second and third phases vanished in minutes. Nothing was left unsold.’’

The return of the ‘Big Two’ was the best distraction Indian cricket could afford after the humiliation in Tests and Kohli, in particular, seems to be batting in another planet. Coming back after the three-match ODI series Down Under in October, the man with most number of centuries in this format did not betray any signs of rust or struggle to put bat to ball on way to his 135 in Ranchi.

 The 102 which followed in Raipur came at a similar strike rate with control over the tempo of the innings, though Kohli seemed more content in letting the new number four Ruturaj Gaikwad take control from time to time. After 53 centuries in this format, he is one of 12 players in the world to have scored three or more back-to-back tons — he did it against West Indies in 2018. It was the golden phase during his career when he once scored three centuries in six ODIs against South Africa.

 What’s more, Kohli seems to have an affinity for the conditions in Vizag where in seven matches, he has an aggregate of 587 runs at a stellar average of 97.83 with three centuries and two fifties. The coastal city, which will see a large number of visitors travelling overnight from Kolkata to catch a glimpse of Ro-Ko show on Indian soil, will expect some fireworks again.

Catch the match

 India vs South Africa

 Third ODI at Visakhapatnam

 Start: 1.30 pm IST