The six Indian players will be completing a circle who featured in the opening Test against South Africa last month, with the return to Cape Town for the final match of the tour. For India, the tour has been a circular journey of several highs and lows, scintillating and average performances, and fluttering fortunes.

Ahead of this grueling tour to the rainbow nation, Virat Kohli and his men had a point to prove – that their No. 1 Test ranking wasn’t a fluke and it wasn’t only because of playing at the home conditions. Despite being down in the opening two Tests and conceded the series, the Indian team did not only show enough honor in defeat but also played some dominating cricket since then. At one point it also felt that the 2-1 scoreline of the Test series would’ve been in India’s favor as well if they had implied themselves more in the first two Tests.

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The victory on a spiteful Wanderers wicket kickstarted their quest for a comeback in the tour and gave the team a new direction. Soon, the arrival of the wrist spinners, Virat Kohli’s stupendous run-scoring patch, coupled with a spate of injuries for the hosts, helped India secure a reverberating 5-1 victory (which could’ve been 6-0 as well) in the ODIs and with that, the No. 1 ranking in the ODIs as well. Their good run with the white ball continued into the opening T20I with their spearhead bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar starred in a comfortable victory for the visiting side.

But just when all the things were going India’s way, South Africa’s young T20I squad showed they had enough fire-power to keep the series alive and they’ll aim to finish things off in the same fashion they started at Newlands, albeit without a single player who featured in the eleven of the first game of the series.

Despite the absence of big players like AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada, South Africa made a strong comeback in their second outing after suffering a 28-run defeat in a chase of 204 in the opening T20I, by managing to reach a target of 189 with 7 balls to spare. Heinrich Klaasen, the chief architects of the hosts’ victory in the second T20I, has grown from strength to strength in the series while JP Duminy brought all his experience into play to lead from the front.

With batting becoming a lot easier in wet conditions, Klaasen ensured he capitalized and such was his effectiveness with the bat that Yuzvendra Chahal, one of the chief tormentors in the limited-overs leg, ended up conceding 64 runs – the most expensive figures by an Indian (who has completed his quota of four overs).

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Among the bowlers, Junior Dala has impressed one and all as he picked up fours wickets so far in his maiden international series for South Africa. Half-centuries from Manish Pandey and MS Dhoni in the previous game would have given India some confidence, as would have Suresh Raina’s gritty knock in the last match.

But India would prefer some runs from the bat of Rohit Sharma as well, who barring a century in the fifth ODI, has had an average series in South Africa. India will be hoping that their limited-overs vice-captain, who has a habit of scoring big in big occasions against the white ball, signs off in style.

Pitch and weather conditions

The last time these two teams faced off at Newlands, Virat Kohli had slammed an unbeaten 160 which set up India’s 124-run victory and ensured South Africa wouldn’t win the series. India had crossed the 300-run mark in that 3rd ODI with the pitch only slowing down towards the latter stages of the first innings. In a T20 game, the conditions are expected to favor the batsmen throughout. It is expected to be a rain-free final game of the tour, which should come as an encouragement for the bowlers.

Stats to look out for

• Teams batting first have a win-loss record of 3-12 in the 15 T20Is played in Cape Town. The lowest total successfully defended here is 154.
• South Africa have lost 5 out of their last six T20Is at this venue.
• India have never lost a limited overs bilateral series of two or more matches under the captaincy of Virat Kohli.

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With an unchanged line-up, South Africa managed to square the series in the 2nd T20I and are unlikely to disturb that combination. For India, Jasprit Bumrah was rested because of abdominal stiffness. With the series on the stake, India’s premier pacer is likely to be back, which means one of Shardul Thakur or Jaydev Unadkat might have to make way. India could also try out Kuldeep Yadav, who will replace Chahal who has been expensive in both T20Is.

Probable XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat/Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah/Shardul Thakur.

South Africa: JJ Smuts, Reeza Hendricks, Jean-Paul Duminy(c), David Miller, Farhaan Behardien, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Andile Phehlukwayo, Chris Morris, Dane Paterson, Junior Dala, Tabraiz Shamsi.