The sixth and the final ODI of the ongoing series between India and South Africa is nothing more than a dead rubber. Both India and South Africa laid foundation stones to Mission 2019 ahead of the series. By morality of the result alone, the men in blue will find themselves slightly ahead of the other nations in terms of preparation for World Cup.

By claiming the ODI series and by leap-frogging their hosts to the numero uno position in the ICC ODI team rankings, their South African tour has turned around since Virat Kohli and his men have gone obsessively “mad” about winning away from home after they spent their unbeaten Test series run at this very venue in mid-January. Their only off-field concern entering the sixth and final ODI is a possibility of being complacent because of the breakthrough success.

Also read: India's predicted for the sixth ODI

As in the ongoing series, most of the runs have been made by the Indian top-three, the middle order of Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya has struggled to maintain the pace, in the final 20 overs of the ODI game. In times of doubling the total after 30 overs, India has managed 103/5 and 116/6 and 133/3 in the last three games. This ought to paralyze the team when they move to flat tracks. On those surfaces, India’s lack of a sixth bowling option – in the injury absence of Kedar Jadhav – could also prove to be a more gaping weakness. 

In the meantime, South Africa has a plethora of concerns to look out for with the series plonking raising some serious questions about their middle-order’s ability to play quality spin. The squad is injury-hit, disunited, and out of form. They have been led by a captain with the minimum international experience Aiden Markram with an eye on the future but may have accidentally contributed to a swift decline in his batting form. Given the delicate state of the squad following the daddy defeats, a win even in a dead rubber could help them to boost their morale up for the rest of the summer – and the upcoming Australia series – as India’s win at the Wanderers Test did for them. 

Pitch and weather conditions

Heavy rains lashed Johannesburg and Centurion ahead of the final ODI. While India had anyway opted against practicing on match eve, South Africa had to pack up theirs within 10 minutes. There’s a forecast for dispersed thunderstorms in Centurion on the day of the game but it is scheduled to hit early in the morning and later in the night and the cricket might just escape both.

Also read: Stats Preview: SA vs Ind (6th ODI)

While Curator Bryan Bloy’s ODI wicket offered more bounce than its Test counterpart, the ball still spun square for Yuzvendra Chahal, who grabbed a fifer. But that was a day game. Under lights, there’s a possibility of the ball slipping on more and possibly negating India’s spin twins a little bit. 

Earlier, during the post-match presentation of the 5th ODI, Kohli acknowledged the fact that the men in blue will try there level best an emphatic 5-1 result but is likely to tweak his playing XI as well. The team management has always been keeping a close eye on the workloads of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, who have been playing since the Tests.

It is likely that one, if not both, will be rested. India retracted their decision to view Ajinkya Rahane as a backup opener and slotted him the no.4 position. He has an aggregate of 106 from five games, with 79 off those coming in the first ODI doesn’t bode well for the team. However, to find a settled No.4 batsman with just over a year to go, India will have to resist the urge from pottering personnel after every other game.  

The hosts will have one eye on the upcoming series against Australia and that means some of the rest for the fast bowlers, including Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel, will need to be given breathers. Accidentally, Morkel was to be rest at Port Elizabeth but Chris Morris’s untimely injury meant he had to play. The all-rounder has recovered from his back issue and should return to the playing XI for Friday’s encounter. 

Also read: Amla is happy with the series defeat

Some stats to look out for:

– If India wins the sith ODI, it will be only the second instance of South Africa losing five ODIs in a home series. The only other time it happened was when they lost 1-5 with one tie against Australia in 2002.

– Virat Kohli has won 37 of his 48 ODIs as captain – the joint-most by any captain at the same point in time. Clive Loyd, Hansie Cronje, and Ricky Ponting also had 37 wins under their belt after 48 matches at the helm.

– Post the 2015 World Cup, India’s top three have faced 61.41% of balls and scored 61.80% of runs – both the highest for any side in the same period.

– Kuldeep Yadav needs three more wickets to become the highest wicket-taker for India in a bilateral series. The current record is held by Javagal Srinath and Amit Mishra, both having taken 18 scalps each.

 Probable XI: 

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer/Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah/Shardul Thakur.

South Africa: Aiden Markram (c), Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, AB de Villiers, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi