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Ahmedabad: The series as well as the number two spot in ICC rankings in their grasp, India would aim for a rare clean sweep while South Africa have nothing but pride to play for in their third and final One-dayer on Saturday.
The home team will be without more than half a dozen key players in the dead rubber, some missing from action from the start of the series and others - including champion batsman Sachin Tendulkar skipping in the final tie.
Tendulkar, in particular, will be missed after his awe-inspiring and phenomenal knock of 200 not out at Gwalior that shattered the Proteas dreams of winning a One-day series in India for the first time ever.
Tendulkar's absence, the back problem to Virender Sehwag and the wrist injury to Gautam Gambhir, have necessitated the inclusion of the uncapped Murali Vijay of Tamil Nadu to open the batting with his domestic team-mate Dinesh Karthik.
Vijay, who has played four Tests in his fledgling career, thus gets a chance to show his worth in the 50-over format of the game by default at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium in Motera.
The South African pace bowlers, especially Dale Steyn, who troubled Vijay in the Test series held earlier, would fancy their chance of making early inroads in the Indian line-up after the mauling they received from Tendulkar in the second match.
Karthik, who has opened in Tests, is going into the match with his confidence boosted with productive stints in the first two games, especially at Gwalior where he made 79 and got involved in a near-double century second wicket stand with Tendulkar.
The Indian middle order, in the absence of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh, is full of pep and vigour but is vastly inexperienced compared to the regular one and the Proteas could not get a better opportunity to scythe through it.
Youngsters Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja have been entrusted with the responsibility to shore up the middle with in-form skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan.
The team will also miss Sehwag as the extra slow bowling option to support Jadeja and Pathan, brightening the chances of either leg spinner Amit Mishra or uncapped off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin getting a look-in.
The Proteas batting has not fired in the two matches with skipper Jacques Kallis at Jaipur and AB de Villiers in Gwalior being the top scorers without getting much support from the rest.
Much was expected from Herschelle Gibbs at the top because of his familiarity with Indian pitches and conditions but his bat failed to boom in the first two ties and the visitors would be looking forward to a solid innings from this veteran.
Jean-paul Duminy has been the biggest flop on the entire tour with a string of one-digit scores to his credit that has weakened the middle order considerably. A final fling from this talented player would help the Proteas' bid for a consolation victory.
Duminy's off spin too has been pedestrian and this has added to the bowling woes of the South African team in containing the home team batsmen.
Team news
India: They are expected to have the backup of either Sudeep Tyagi, who has been traveling with the team without getting many chances to play, or Karnataka's young talent Abhimanyu Mithun.
Squad (likely): MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Sudeep Tyagi, S Sreesanth, Amit Mishra, Ashish Nehra/Abhimanyu Mithun .
South Africa: All-rouder Albie Morkel back in squad in place of injured Charl Langeveldt and Loots Bosman may in final-XI off out of form Herschelle Gibbs.
Squad (likely): Jacques Kallis (capt), Loots Bosman, Hashim Amla, Alviro Petersen, Mark Boucher (wk), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Roelof van der Merwe, Albie Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn.
Pitch and conditions
Curator Dhiraj Parsana has predicted that the wicket would not be a batting paradise like the ones at Jaipur and Gwalior and a score of 260-plus would be a good one to defend. He also stated that dew fall has been quite heavy which could affect the team bowling second, but added that measures like sprinkling of chemicals on the outfield and usage of ropes to take away the moisture would be tried to reduce the impact.
Stats & trivia
Match fact
Saturday February 27, 2010 (day/night)
Start time: 14:30 local (09:00 GMT)
