IND vs SA Day 1: On Wednesday, December 26, India will play South Africa in the opening Test of the two-match series at SuperSport Park, Centurion. This will be the first match of South Africa in the new cycle of WTC. It doesn’t seem to be an ideal day for a match as there are more than 70% rain chances in Centurion today and this article will lead you through the IND vs SA Day 1 Weather Forecast and Pitch Report of SuperSport Park, Centurion.
Table of Contents
Temba Bavuma and Rohit Sharma will play their first match since their teams’ traumatic exit from the World Cup in India last month. This series plays an important role for both teams in the context of the World Test Championship Points table. A win or loss will impact their standings in the WTC Points table so it will be interesting to see what would be the approach of the captains of both sides.
So far, India has played eight Test series in South Africa; seven of those series have ended in losses, with one ending in a draw. In twenty-three Test matches played in South Africa, they have only managed four victories. Nevertheless, they have triumphed in three of their last five Test matches against the Proteas, including a match on Boxing Day at SuperSport Park during the trip in 2021–2022, under Virat Kohli’s captaincy.
The team captained by Rohit Sharma looks set to start with a revamped starting lineup, with Mohammed Shami, Ajinkya Rahane, and Cheteshwar Pujara being left out. Leading pacers Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi of South Africa are anticipated to return after sitting out the white-ball series against India, and young player Tristan Stubbs may make his Test debut.
India got a few blows as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Mohammed Shami were ruled out of the series owing to injuries. However, the team got their replacement but couldn’t see any foot to fit in Shami’s shoes in the squad.
Down below is the IND vs SA Day 1 Weather Forecast and Pitch Report of SuperSport Park, Centurion:
IND vs SA Day 1 Weather Forecast
India vs South Africa (India tour of South Africa 2023) | India vs South Africa 1st Test match will be played at SuperSport Park, Centurion from December 26 to December 30 starting at 10:30 AM Local and 1:30 PM IST.
ACC TO WEATHER.COM, the weather is predicted to be overcast throughout the day. As the weather websites show, there are high chances of rain on Day 1 which makes it not an ideal day for a test match to begin. A ~50% chance of rain is predicted in the morning and it keeps increasing to ~85% in the evening. It seems rain is going to interrupt the match throughout the day. The Temperature in the morning is expected to be around 19° C and is expected to rise to 22°C the day.
Winds with a speed of around 15-20KMPH will gust towards the Northeast. Humidity will stay at the higher end at 80% (around 78% in the morning and falls to 81% in the evening). So, the possibilities of rain are always but we can hope for some game on day 1 of the IND vs SA 1st test match.
IND vs SA Day 1 Pitch Report
In red-ball cricket, Centurion’s SuperSport Park provides decent support for pace bowlers. The pitch curator has disclosed that starting on Day 1, both sides may anticipate a surface that is conducive to pace. Extra bounce and seam for the bowlers have also been confirmed by India’s head coach Rahul Dravid.
Since the Pacers have typically dominated at SuperSport Park, it is anticipated that both sides would use extra quick options in their bowling attacks on Boxing Day. But after the ball becomes old, the hitters are also expected to score large runs.
Visit the ICC OFFICIAL WEBSITE for more recent updates.