IND vs SA 5th T20I: India will take the field at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad knowing that they cannot lose the series against South Africa, leading the five-match T20I series 2-1 heading into the final match.
While the hosts won the series opener in Cuttack by 101 runs, the Proteas came back to win the second T20I in Mullanpur by 51 runs. The Men in Blue then took a 2-1 lead in the series by winning the third T20I in Dharamsala by 7 wickets. The fourth T20I was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to dense fog in Lucknow.
That means while visitors will only be able to level the series, India will have another chance to win the series.
IND vs SA head-to-head record in T20Is
The two teams have squared off against one another a total of 34 times with India coming out on top on 20 occasions. South Africa, meanwhile, emerged victorious 13 times with one game ending without any result.
IND vs SA Probable Playing XIs
While Shubman Gil had sustained an injury in the lead-up to the fourth T20I in Lucknow, there is no clarity yet on whether or not he will feature in the final T20I in Ahmedabad. In case he misses out, Sanju Samson is expected to feature in the Playing XI.
There is little clarity on the availability of Jasprit Bumrah as well who missed out the third T20I due to personal reasons. If he is available, India would definitely want to give him a game and a have a shot at winning the series.
India Probable Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill/ Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Harshit Rana/ Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy
South Africa Probable Playing XI: Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (captain), Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, George Linde/Keshav Maharaj/Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman
IND vs SA 5th T20I Pitch & Weather Report
Unlike Lucknow, Ahmedabad promises perfect conditions to host a match in this time of the year. Fog is least likely to play spoilsport. It’s a perfect batting paradise and one can have a closely fought, hard-scoring contest in the final match of the series.