4th T20I: India elect to bat first in series decider vs South Africa

Johannesburg: India won the toss and opted to bat first against South Africa in the fourth and final T20I of the series at the Wanderers Stadium here on Friday. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who won the toss for the first time in this series, continued the theme of India batting first like they did in the opening three games.

In the previous game, Tilak Varma made his promotion to the No.3 spot count by hitting a terrific unbeaten 107 off 56 balls – his maiden century in T20Is – while Arshdeep Singh picked a crucial 3-37 as India held their nerve to beat South Africa by 11 runs in third T20I at SuperSport Park and take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series.

India had lost the second T20I by three wickets after having won the first game, by 61 runs, in dominant fashion to set up the series decider.

The clash against South Africa will mark the end of what has been an incredible year for the Indians in the shortest format of the game. Not only did the side win their second-ever T20 World Cup in June, but they also recorded 24 wins out of a total of 26 games.

South Africa on the other hand have struggled after the T20 WC final and have not won a series since. After the final, the Proteas were whitewashed by the West Indies and drew a series against Ireland. Although the side does not have a chance to win the series, A win on Friday night would rescue them a draw.

Both India and South Africa decided to go into the match with unchanged sides.

Playing XI’s:

South Africa: Ryan Rickelton, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Andile Simelane, Keshav Maharaj, Lutho Sipamla

India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy