Two-time winners India (IND) open their ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 campaign against South Africa (SA) at The Rose Bowl, Southampton today. Virat Kohli’s India suffered a six-wicket loss to New Zealand in their first World Cup warm-up match, but hammered Bangladesh by 95 runs in Cardiff last week. The Proteas, on the other hand, were beaten by Bangladesh on Sunday after starting the tournament with a big loss to England. Get live updates and live score of India vs South Africa here (LIVE SCORECARD | BAN vs NZ LIVE | POINTS TABLE | FULL SCHEDULE)
14:46 hrs IST: Quinton de Kock averages 64.5 against India and has hit a half-century in six of his previous eight ODI innings.
14:36 hrs IST: Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Lokesh Rahul, MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
South Africa: Quinton de Kock(w), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis(c), Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Jean-Paul Duminy, Andile Phehlukwayo, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi
14:32 hrs IST: South Africa have won the toss and have opted to bat.
14:20 hrs IST: STAT ATTACK - Virat Kohli has hit a century in each of his first games in a World Cup (100 in 2011, 107 in 2015).
14:05 hrs IST: Toss in 25 minutes. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka recovered from a dramatic batting collapse to knock over Afghanistan for 152 and seal a 34-run win in the 2019 World Cup match at Cardiff on Tuesday.
14:00 hrs IST: WHAT THEY SAID -
Faf du Plessis: "For myself, it's really important to stay strong. The team will feed off my energy and they will look up to the leadership group in the team. But I'm at the top of that so it is important that I stay positive, I stay strong, make sure I keep motivating the guys."
Virat Kohli: "Whether a team has played before or not, it really wouldn't matter on the day. It depends on how the side turns out, what kind of mental set-up they have and we have to be mentally and skilfully stronger than the opposition whoever we play to win on the day, so I think our focus will be that."
13:53 hrs IST: India have won six of their last seven ODIs against South Africa, although they lost their previous three ODIs against Australia back in March.
13:44 hrs IST: Beuran Hendricks has been called up to replace Dale Steyn, but the left-arm quick will not face India. Hashim Amla could return, having been left out against Bangladesh as a precaution after being struck on the helmet by Jofra Archer.
13:40 hrs IST: BIG NUMBER - The Proteas have won two of their previous three ODI matches at The Rose Bowl, while India have lost two of their three.
13:37 hrs IST: STAT ATTACK - South Africa have lost back-to-back games in the same World Cup for just the second time in their history. They have never lost three in succession within the same tournament.
13:24 hrs IST: Hello and welcome to Outlook's live coverage of the 2019 Cricket World Cup encounter between India and South Africa.
India have had adequate rest. Almost all other teams have already played two games each and Kohli’s side will look to kick-start its campaign with a rousing performance.
The clash couldn't possibly have been more well-timed as India have a chance to hold the Proteas by the scruff of their neck when they are seemingly at their weakest. Dale Steyn has been ruled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury, while fellow paceman Lungi Ngidi (hamstring) will play no part in Southampton.
It’ll be interesting to see whether India decide to go with four seamers and a spinner or three seamers and two spinners. KL Rahul is expected to take the No. 4 slot but it remains to be seen as to how well he performs when the condition are tough to bat.
Kedar Jadhav, who didn’t take part in both the warm-up games due to a shoulder injury he sustained during the IPL, is fit for the opener.