Proteas looking to take the lead for the first time against India

By Ayanda Nyuswa

The Proteas will be looking to take the lead for the first time in the T20 series against India when they meet for the third match at Supersport Park in Centurion on Wednesday. South Africa overcame India by 3 wickets in a nail-biter in Gqeberha, to bounce back after getting outclassed by 61 runs in the first T20i in Durban.

A win for Rob Walter’s men in Centurion will see them head to the final T20 at the Wanderers at Johannesburg in a much comfortable position to secure the series win. South Africa have not won a T20 series in 2024, and have particularly struggled in the shortest format after their heart breaking 7 runs defeat to India in the T20 World Cup final.

Fast allrounder Marco Jansen, who is in line to play his third match since returning from injury, has emphasised the importance of taking wickets at regular intervals to restrict the scoring rate of the India batting line up.

“It’s always difficult in the power player because you know these guys (India) they don’t second guess themselves, they go full tilt. I think for us personally we just gonna try, in the high-veld the ball travels a lot more faster than at the coast, so for us it’s important to take wickets at regular intervals, because it’s very difficult to restrict or maintain the run-rate in the high veld because the ball flies around everywhere. If we can get wickets at regular intervals that would stop the scoring rate and hopefully restrict them to a low total.”