Port Elizabeth: After slumping to a five-wicket defeat in Johannesburg, India will aim to wrap up the six-match ODI series when they take on South Africa in the fifth match at the St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.
The Virat Kohli-led side started the series on front foot, winning the first three matches with comprehensive wins in Durban, Centurion and Cape Town.
However, India failed to maintain their triumphant run in the series as South Africa bounced back strongly to clinch a five-wicket win over the visiting side by the Duckworth-Lewis method in rain-hit and lightning-struck Pink fourth ODI in Johannesburg.
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India will now look to learn from their mistake and clinch the six-match series when they head into the fifth ODI later today.
A victory in Port Elizabeth will ensure them their maiden ODI series triumph on the South African soil.
Previously, the closest India came was in 2010-11, when the then Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side took a 2-1 lead against South Africa, only to see themselves eventually lose the five-match series 3-2.
South Africa, on the other hand, are boosting with their victory in the last tie and that they look to build on the positives as they have an opportunity to end the six-match series on an even note.
Kohli’s side are most likely to go with the same Playing XI despite their defeat on Saturday, with Kedar Jadhav continuing to struggle due to a hamstring injury.
It should be noted that India’s record in Port Elizabeth is nothing to write about either, having lost all five ODIs which they have played here since 1992.
While four of those defeats came against South Africa, the Men in Blue also lost to Kenya during the one-day triangular series as part of their 2001-02 tour.
The two teams are as follows:
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma (vice-capt), Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Shardul Thakur.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (capt), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Khaya Zondo.
(With ANI inputs)