With the series leveled at 2-2, it all boils down to the decider in Mumbai on Sunday. South Africa began their preparations for the big final opting for the morning session at the nets. An injured Morne Morkel was seen bowling at the nets, though batsman Hashim Amla said later in the press conference that he might not feature in the final ODI.
Morkel’s presence was certainly missed in the previous ODI as the Indian batsmen got the better of the South African bowlers setting a target of 300. In the chase, South Africa failed to counter spin and handed India a 35-run win. Amla agreed the team combination was a bit unsettled in Morkel and JP Duminy’s absence.
“I don’t think Morkel is fit enough to play the final ODI. Also, losing JP is huge,” Amla said. “He has been an unbelievably consistent performer for us for the last couple of years. He lends good balance to the team with his off-spinners as well. Having seven frontline batsmen has been a working formula for us and around JP Duminy it does change things for us. Losing him has changed things in the team a bit, but that is why you have a squad for. No big series is won with 11 players. You have 15 players who will have to contribute at different times. This is one of such times for us.”
Personally Amla has been having a rough time with the bat. He has managed to reach double figures just thrice on this tour so far. Amla reckoned he had been getting the starts but unfortunately was failing to convert them into big scores. “Obviously, I would have liked to score more runs. But, you can’t score runs all the time and other guys in the team will get a chance to score as well. It will be great if I can get to score tomorrow. As a batsman, you always want to contribute towards your team’s success. Hopefully, my time will come.
“I have been batting pretty well; most of the innings I have managed to get a little bit of something going and somehow I am getting myself out all the time. Cricket is like that and for every batsman the next innings is always an important one. Every batsman feels a big one is round the corner. Even if you score a hundred you are always hoping that a big one is round the corner.”
Putting the final ODI into perspective, Amla felt they needed to put their best foot forward to seal the series. “I don’t think you have to look at the greater scheme of things; it’s a huge game regardless. Obviously it’s been an exciting and close one-day series. On the tour itself so far, we have managed to win four games out of six which has been good going from our side. Both teams in ODIs have been extremely competitive. It will be an exciting game tomorrow. One of the teams will have to try and take the lead and make sure they remain calm under different circumstances.”
