South Africa bat in fourth one-day international

South African captain Graeme Smith and bowler Dale Steyn walk back after losing the third one-day international to India at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town on January 18. South Africa won the toss and decided to bat in the fourth one-day international against india at St George’s Park on Friday.
©AFP/File – Alexander Joe

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (AFP) – South Africa won the toss and decided to bat in the fourth one-day international against india at St George’s Park here on Friday.

India lead the five-match series 2-1 and have a chance to become the first team other than Australia and England to win a bilateral series in South Africa, while South Africa were seeking to set up a decider in the fifth and final match at Centurion on Sunday.

South Africa brought in Morne van Wyk, named on Tuesday as the reserve wicketkeeper for the Cricket World Cup, in place of batsman Colin Ingram, while left-arm spin bowler Robin Peterson replaced left-arm pace bowler Wayne Parnell.

There was still no place for uncapped leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who is in South Africa’s World Cup squad.

India brought in Parthiv Patel in place of out-of-form opening batsman Murali Vijay. Patel joined the touring squad as a replacement for Sachin Tendulkar, who was injured in the second match.

The day-night game was due to start in a blustery wind on a dry pitch expected to be easy-paced and likely to slow down later in the match.

Teams:

South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Morne van Wyk, AB de Villiers (wkt), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Johan Botha, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

India: MS Dhoni (capt/wkt), Parthiv Patel, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel

Umpires: Johan Cloete (RSA), Simon Taufel (AUS)

TV umpire: Brian Jerling (RSA)

Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)