By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected bat first against South Africa in the Cricket World Cup at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.
Both India and South Africa have already qualified for the semifinals – the top two sides in the points’ table.
The top-of-the-table match may have a bearing on which team finishes top of the standings and which semifinal they play in but otherwise there are just bragging rights and pride at stake with both guaranteed a play in the knockout matches.
Both sides have displayed dominant form with the hosts winning all seven matches so far, often by wide margins, while South Africa have also won five matches by more than 100 runs while slipping up just once against the Netherlands to record six wins from their seven matches so far.
South Africa have made one change from the team which beat New Zealand by 190-runs in their last match with left arm wrist-spinner, Tabraiz Shamsi, replacing fast bowler Gerald Coetzee.
India have fielded an unchanged XI after hammering Sri Lanka by 302-runs in their last game.
The pitch at the majestic Eden Gardens should be batsmen friendly, with spin coming in to play later. Dew could play a role in the evening and aid the chasing side.
INDIA: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wkt), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj
SOUTH AFRICA: Quinton de Kock (wkt), Temba Bavuma (captain), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi.