India and South Africa set for Vizag shootout with ODI series victory on the line
A high-scoring thriller didn’t pan out for India in the way they wanted as South Africa put up a remarkable show with the bat in Chhattisgarh to level the series in the second ODI. After much to and fro between the two powerhouses, Visakhapatnam is all set to host the series decider, with everything on the line.
With the fate of the series dangling in the balance, both sides will want to address their areas of concern. Despite two high-scoring thrillers so far in the series, bowlers from both sides have been spooked. Runs have come by in spades and with the kind of surface that Vizag has to offer, one might expect another high-scoring encounter.
India will be banking upon their top-order that has been in tremendous touch with Virat Kohli spearheading the charge emphatically. With 237 runs from two matches and two centuries, Kohli will be hopeful of pulling off a hat-trick of tons, which will be a humdinger feat. South Africa, on the contrary, will be leaning on their power-hitters who have been in great nick as well in order to pile the pressure on Indian bowlers in their path to a historic ODI series win.
Venue Watch:
As history goes, the track in the ACA-VDCA stadium has been a batting friendly one. The dew factor will once again be a decisive one which can set apart the two teams. The team batting second will have an added edge. Bowlers will have to toil hard enough if they have to contain their counterparts within a competitive total.
Match details:
Match - India vs South Africa, 3rd ODI
Venue – ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Vizag
Date – 6th December, 2025
Time – 1:30 PM
Head-to-head:
Matches played - 96
India - 41
South Africa – 52
Squads:
India:
KL Rahul (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh.
South Africa:
Temba Bavuma (C), Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Nandre Burger, Quinton de Kock, Marco Jansen, Tony de Zorzi, Rubin Hermann, Ottneil Baartman, Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Ryan Rickelton, Prenelan Subrayen.
