Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], March 12 (ANI): A win away from sealing the semi-final spot in the Road Safety World Series T20, India Legends will look to get the better of South Africa on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, South Africa, who got the better of England Legends on Thursday, has set their eyes on another win which will almost confirm their place in the knockout stage.
The Indians are placed second with 12 points and three wins in four matches behind Sri Lana Legends, who are at 16. The South Africans are third with 8 points.
India will be keen to put up a better show than what they did against Kevin Pietersen’s England, the other day, where they were handed their first defeat of the tournament.
In that game, India almost came close to a win after Irfan Pathan’s heroic 61 not out and Manpreet Singh Gony’s entertaining unbeaten 35 which included four sixes in the death overs. They were six runs short of England’s challenging total of 188.
India captain Sachin Tendulkar, who is not having a great time out there on the crease, will look to get back in form before the knockout stage. His best score has been 33 not out against Bangladesh Legends and the Indian legend will hope to breach the half-century mark in this match to get his confidence back.
The other batsmen from the Indian side who have been struggling to get big scores are Yuvraj Singh, Mohd Kaif, and Yusuf Pathan. All three will be eager to make their presence felt with the bat.
India’s biggest worry should be left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who went wicket-less for 43 in four overs against England. The form of Ojha will trouble himself more as other spinners like Monty Panesar or Thandi Tshabalala are doing well in these conditions.
Coming to South Africa, the Jonty Rhodes-led outfit will be high on confidence after their previous win. They looked more comfortable and sorted in their last game than they were against Sri Lanka.
They have found their strength and form in their batting while their bowling has started to do well, too. (ANI)