WC Preview: India vs South Africa

This is a big game. A huge game. A Game.

Obvious statements aside, both these potential champions haven't come even close to peaking, and have had the same problems that everyone expected them to have. For India, bowlers not named Zaheer continue to be unthreatening, and they only seem to field well when the heat is up to saunatic temperatures. [Note: two words in that sentence aren't in the dictionary.] South Africa's issues are sort of Oesophageal - that is a much more polite way of describing their woes than the phrase "the C-word", which can often mean something pretty offensive.

The Captains: Biff and Dhoni

The last time India played South Africa, the series ended in a 3-2 win for the latter, but India were without half the batting order and Zaheer Khan. Considering that and the fact that India are playing at home, clearly the advantage is with India South Africa no one. Most of the South Africans are familiar with the conditions, some more than the others. Amla, ABdV and Duminy are all in good form if you ignore their loss to England. 

India's batsmen have all scored runs too, they have needed to. This could be a massive run-fest, but of course that might depend on the pitch again. Plenty of stuff to watch out for in today's game: Biff vs Zak, Amla vs probability, Chawla vs Ashwin, Yusuf vs the ball, Harby vs failure, all Saffa batsmen vs pie-chucker.

My picks to succeed are Sehwag, Sachin and Kohli for India, and Kallis, Duminy and Steyn for South Africa. [those are completely random]

Ideal line-ups:

India: Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj, Dhoni (c)(wk), Pathan, Ashwin, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Munaf,

South Africa: Smith (c), Amla, Kallis, deVilliers, Duminy, du Plessis, van Wyk (wk), Botha, Steyn, Morkel, Tsotsobe.

Official-looking prediction: India to win a runfest comfortably. Or South Africa will just edge a low-scoring game.

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