India and South Africa collide at Eden Gardens with sizeable odds on the line

After a prolonged wait that tested both the top sides of the tournament to their very core, Eden Gardens will be playing host to what seems like an absolute belter of a contest as India will be locking horns with South Africa to eventually decide the fate of the ace of the points table.

India have so far been on an unbeaten run as they registered a monumental victory over Sri Lanka that saw their bowlers running absolute riot after the batters pulled off a phenomenal showdown. However, the early departure of Rohit Sharma intensified the frowns on the faces of the Indian fans only for them to be allayed in no time as Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill took over the reins of the fixture from thereon.

South Africa demolished New Zealand mercilessly as they posted a rippling showdown with the bat with the Kiwis barely finding their rhythm. Quinton de Kock has been in sensational form while van der Dussen blasted another ton that allowed South Africa to run away with the momentum while Keshav Maharaj’s sensational showdown skittled out the Black Caps.

As the two titans meet at the Mecca of Indian cricket, it is going to be a crucial battle considering the fact that India would like to make a statement by beating the Proteas and maintaining their unbeaten streak. For South Africa, though, a victory for them will get them back in the top of the points table as they have a superior net run rate, and with that some crucial momentum heading into the final few league stage matches.

Venue Watch:

Eden Gardens is deemed as one of those surfaces where the spinners will come into play in the second half and will need some crafty batting to brave out the spin threat. With the average score batting first at the venue reading 240 with the average score batting second dropping to 201, there will be a natural tendency for the captains to win the toss and bat first.

Head to Head:

Matches played: 90

India – 37

South Africa - 50

Match Details:

Match – India vs South Africa

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Date: 5th November, 2023

Time: 2:00 PM

World Cup face-offs:

Matches played: 5

India: 2

South Africa: 3

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.

South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams, Andile Phehlukwayo