New Delhi:
The champions trophy clash between India and South Africa is being billed as a virtual quarterfinal as it is a must win encounter for both teams. Both the heavyweights are clashing for a place in the semifinal and the match is scheduled to be played at Sunday afternoon at the Kennington Oval, London.
Call it irony, if India lose the game, it will be defending champions making an exit even before the semi-final. On the other hand, if the Proteas lose, then the current No.1 ranked ODI side would be ousted before the last four stage.
Let's hear what experts are predicting about the match
The South Africans will be overjoyed as their iconic skipper and Mr 360, AB de Villiers has declared himself fit for the game. The familiarity between both sides is fairly good as well with plenty of South African players taking part in the IPL, and with both teams having faced each other quite a few times recently.
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Coming into this game, there would be pretty much no surprises for either team. India and South Africa have clashed three times earlier in Champions Trophy where India have emerged as winners. In 2000, India defeated Proteas by 95 runs, in 2002 by 10 runs and in 2013 by 13 runs.
India Probable XI:
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar/R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
READ: ICC Champions Trophy: India look to ensure chokers tag remains with SA
South Africa Probable XI:
Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers (c), David Miller, Jean-Paul Duminy, Wayne Parnell, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir
