India and South Africa are all set to clash against each other in the third and final ODI of the series at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, December 06. It is worth noting that the series is currently tied at 1-1.Both the matches have been close so far with not much to separate the two teams India and South Africa. However, from the two games both the teams had some learnings.
It’s no surprise that dew has taken centerstage in this series as it often does in this part of the world, especially in a format where it often is the difference between the team that bats first and the team that chases.Dew has made bowling really difficult in the second innings in both the games so far. The combination of flat pitch and wet ball has made things really difficult for Indian bowlers and the hard-hitting Proteas batters have taken advantage of this.
IND vs SA : Previous Performances
India drew first blood with a thrilling 17-run win in Ranchi, thanks to Virat Kohli’s 52nd ODI ton and contributions from Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Their bowlers held their nerve despite a late South African fightback, sealing a narrow 12-run win to take a 1-0 lead. South Africa almost pulled off a stunning heist in the first ODI despite losing half their side in meek fashion. In the second, they went past the finishing line despite being asked to hunt down 359 by India.
The visitors South Africa bounced back in Raipur with one of their finest ODI chases. Aiden Markram’s 110, supported by Matthew Breetzke and Dewald Brevis, guided the Proteas to a record 359-run chase, levelling the series 1-1. Despite Kohli and Ruturaj Gaikwad scoring centuries and India posting 358, the match ended in South Africa’s favour.
IND vs SA : Head to Head
The IND vs SA head-to-head record in ODI cricket is stacked in favour of South Africa with 52 wins in 96 games. India, on the other hand, has succeeded in getting the better of South Africa on 41 occasions, with three fixtures ending in no result.
| Matches Played | 96 |
| Won by IND | 41 |
| Won by SA | 52 |
| No Result / Tied | 3 |
| First-ever fixture | 10 November 1991 (IND Won) |
| Most-recent fixture | 03 December 2025 (SA Won) |
IND vs SA : Pitch and Weather Report
The surface at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium has always been a sporting wicket with something in it for both batters and bowlers, and is expected to remain so for the third and final IND vs SA ODI. With it being a high-scoring venue, the batters will surely enjoy their time in the middle, while the bowlers can also extract whatever help is available in the wicket, given they pitch the ball in the right areas.
The Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium pitch in Visakhapatnam is generally considered a batter-friendly surface, but the track tends to support spinners as the game progresses. The average first-inning score at this venue is 233, and the team winning the toss will look to bowl first at this venue. Clear skies for starters. In the last ODI played here, India bowled Australia out for just 117. But the preceding two ODIs – both between India and West Indies were high-scoring.
The last two ODIs represent the extreme of the conditions in Vishakapatnam. India went from scoring 387 against West Indies in December 2019 to being bowled out for 117 against Australia in March 2023. With no weather challenges in the pitch preparation, expect more of the former. The temperature should be warmer than Ranchi and Raipur, but still pleasant for cricket.There is no chance of rain during the match. The temperature is expected to be a high of 28 degrees and a low of 19 degrees.
IND vs SA : Big Picture : Can India end rotten luck with the toss
The last time India lost both the Test and ODI series as part of the same bilateral tour was in South Africa in 2021-22. At home, though, India haven’t lost both the series of a tour since Pakistan beat them 1-0 in Tests and 5-1 in ODIs in 1986-87. South Africa go into Vishakapatnam with a chance of achieving that rare double. It is evident by now that it could well come down to the toss. The dew anyway plays a big part in ODIs in India, which is now getting accentuated by use of only one ball from overs 34 to 50.
The side bowling in the afternoon gets the advantage of using an older, softer ball, which gets nullified in the dew in the night. South Africa won the last ODI despite being 35 behind India at the 34-over mark, which is when the fielding side gets to choose one of the two balls to bowl the rest of the innings with.
Given such a premium on the toss, India will be desperate that they finally win one after 20 straight losses. The last time India won a toss in ODIs was in the semi-final of the last World Cup, and we are already talking about combinations for the next World Cup.
The teams will have no option but to maximise the new ball in the afternoon and go for an above-par total for the conditions they are batting in. And then maximise the new ball in the evening before it stops moving. India managed to do both of those things in Ranchi, but only one in Raipur. It will be interesting to see if South Africa have capability to do both, but for that India will have to win the toss.
IND vs SA : Vital Stats that matters
- Kumar Sangakkara holds the record for more centuries in consecutive ODI innings: four. A host of others, including Kohli, have managed three in a row.
- The last team to beat India in India despite losing the toss was South Africa in October 2022.
- India have the most wins in ODI cricket since 2023.
- Virat Kohli’s ODI scores at Vizag – 118, 117, 99, 65, 157*, 0, 31
- Five of Jaiswal’s six dismissals across these two Tests and two ODIs have come to left-arm quicks.
IND vs SA : Team News for India and South Africa
India :
India will have no reason to make any changes in the XI that has won one and narrowly lost the second despite losing both tosses. Especially after Ruturaj Gaikwad scored a hundred that almost matched Kohli shot for shot. Prasidh Krishna is going at 8.48 an over, but India don’t have a replacement bowler in the squad. And they won’t replace a specialist bowler with an allrounder.So in all likelihood, India will go in with an unchanged XI for the third straight game.
India Probable Playing XI : Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna
South Africa :Â
The visitors will be forced to make a couple of changes after Tony de Zorzi and Nandre Burger were hampered by hamstring injuries in the last game. While Ottneil Baartman will be expected to return to the XI, South Africa will have to take a call on de Zorzi’s replacement. If they do not want to disturb their balance. Hamstrings don’t heal this quickly so expect Burger and Tony de Zorzi to be replaced by Ottneil Baartman and Ryan Rickelton.
South Africa Probable XI: Quinton de Kock (WK), Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (C), Matthew Breetzke, Rubin Hermann/ Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Ottniel Baartman
IND vs SA : Probable Top Performers of the match
Probable Best Batter – Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli has gone back to back with centuries 11 times in his career. He has converted one of those into a hat-trick. Three centuries in one week. One of them came at his favourite venue, Vishakapatnam, where he comes back with four ODI hundreds and one Test ton to his name. He averages 97.83 there in ODIs at better than a run a ball. He has also scored 299 Test runs there for three dismissals. The form that he seems to have hit, you won’t want to bet against another hat-trick of ODI hundreds.
Star Indian batter Virat Kohli could be the best batter in the upcoming clash against South Africa. Kohli has been in scintillating form throughout the series so far, hammering back-to-back tons. While his century in Ranchi took India over the line, his knock of 102 in the second ODI in Raipur went in vain as the Men in Blue faced a four-wicket defeat. However, the 37-year-old will be looking forward to this decider game and will be confident to bat the same way he did in the previous two games.
Probable Best Bowler – Marco Jansen
South African all-rounder Marco Jansen could be the best bowler in the upcoming game of the series. In two games, the left-arm seamer has picked four wickets at an economy of 6.95. Jansen has been brilliant with the new ball and troubled the Indians with his short deliveries. Despite the surface being a batting paradise, the 25-year-old will be looking to continue his fine form and pick early wickets.
Marco Jansen, who is staking claims to becoming a genuine allrounder, will still want to do more in his core discipline of bowling than four wickets at an average of 34.75 and an economy rate of 6.95. If Nandre Burger doesn’t recover in time, he could get the new ball and look to play a role in controlling Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
IND vs SA : Match Prediction
The fact that the home side keep losing the toss hasn’t helped their case either. Given that is in nobody’s control, the challenge for both teams going into this series decider remains the same. Visakhapatnam played host to five games in the recently-concluded Women’s World Cup. On all five occasions, the chasing team ended up winning. Australia chased down 331 in a fixture against the hosts and South Africa recovered from 81/5 to chase 252. That’s a clear indication of what to expect late in the evening.
For South Africa, this is an opportunity to pull off a rare double. India do not lose often at home. India definitely do not lose both the Test series and an ODI series at home. The last time it happened was almost 40 years ago so South Africa are certainly on the cusp of something special.
One thing they would want in this crucial fixture is put early pressure on India with the ball to see how they respond. Virat Kohli has two centuries, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rohit Sharma have made runs too but it will be interesting to see how India cope if they end up losing early wickets.India will start the match as the favorite and is expected to win the match but South Africa under Temba Bavuma is a diffrent gravy to tackle at their own peril which sets up the series at 50=50 stake for both the teams to win it.
Also Read:Â IND vs SA: Ruturaj Gaikwad & Virat Kohli Ton Powers India To 358/5