×

India vs South Africa 2015, 1st ODI at Kanpur: Key Battles

Here are some of the vital clashes in the first India vs South Africa ODI that could determine the outcome of the match.

Related articles

Dale Steyn (left) vs Rohit Sharma will be one of the major clashes © Getty Images
Dale Steyn (left) vs Rohit Sharma will be one of the major clashes © Getty Images

India and South Africa kick off their One-Day International (ODI) series with the first match at Green Park, Kanpur, on Sunday. South Africa beat India 2-0 in the three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series, thereby getting their campaign off to a successful start. India will want to get their own back by starting the series with a morale-boosting victory. The match will throw up some interesting contests; whoever wins will be able to take bragging rights early in the series. Here are some of the key clashes that could take place in the first ODI. Live Cricket Scorecard: India vs South Africa 2015, 1st ODI at Kanpur

Rohit Sharma vs Dale Steyn: India’s flamboyant opening batsman against one of the best pace bowlers in the world; the contest is a mouth-watering one. Rohit is in red-hot form, as he proved with a superb century in the first T20I at Dharamsala. He has been in good nick in limited-overs games for some time now, and will be keen to continue his good run. Steyn, on the other hand, has not been at his best and also missed out on the T20Is. He will want to get off to a good start in the ODIs. Getting rid of Rohit early will go a long way in doing so.

Quinton de Kock vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Quinton de Kock has a fondness for Indian bowling; he scored three back-to-back ODI tons when India toured South Africa in 2013, and regained some lost form by scoring another century during the recent South Africa A tour of India. He will be keen on re-establishing himself as South Africa’s first-choice opening batsman after being out of the side for some time. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has not been at his best either, and is no longer the obvious choice for opening bowling for India. If he can take out de Kock early, it will do his confidence a world of good. READ: India vs South Africa 2015, 1st ODI at Kanpur: Likely XI for the hosts

Virat Kohli vs Imran Tahir: India’s talismanic batsman has been in indifferent form this year. He is not likely to cross the 1,000-run barrier in ODIs in 2015, which will be the first time he has failed to do so since 2010 (when he scored 995 runs). He needs over 600 runs in just five more ODIs this year to get to that landmark. If he does, it will be one of the most remarkable turnarounds in recent history. He will have to contend with the wily Imran Tahir, who is getting better with every passing moment. Kohli is a good player of spin though, and will fancy his chances against Tahir.

AB de Villiers vs Ravichandran Ashwin: The current score reads 2-0 in Ashwin’s favour against de Villiers in this tour so far. Ashwin got rid of de Villiers in both completed T20Is; despite de Villiers’ insistence that it was less to do with Ashwin’s good bowling and more to do with his poor batting, it seems that Ashwin has a tendency of dismissing the opposition’s best batsmen. He had done the same with Kumar Sangakkara during the Test series between India and Sri Lanka recently. Whoever wins their bout in the first ODI will be able to put pressure on the other for the rest of the tournament. READ: India vs South Africa 2015, T20I series: 5 reasons India lost

MS Dhoni vs Morne Morkel: MS Dhoni has been a far cry from his usual belligerent self these days. He will likely have to bat toward the end of the innings yet again, which will mean facing Morne Morkel at the death. Morkel is a tough bowler to hit out, especially later in the innings, due to the line and pace he bowls. If Dhoni manages to master him, it will bode wonderfully for India in the months to come.

Faf du Plessis vs Amit Mishra: Back in ICC World T20 2014, Amit Mishra was on a roll. He was out-bowling Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja with regularity, and often emerged India’s best bowler. In the semi-final, he came up against Faf du Plessis and got such a pasting that he was soon back in the wilderness of domestic cricket. Mishra will not have forgotten that, and now that he is back in the groove of things, will want to see the back of du Plessis the first chance he can. It will be interesting to watch whether or not he can overcome his demons and take out du Plessis. READ: India vs South Africa 2015: India marks out of 10

(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek who loves cricket more than cricketers. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)

trending this week