South Africa tour of India 2025 | 3rd ODI | Preview and Predictions

India had the ODI series against South Africa at home in their hands, especially after putting up a mammoth 358 but it was the Proteas’ captain, Aiden Markram leading from the front to outdo the twin centuries of Virat Kohli and Ruturaj Gaikwad to see South Africa make a steep chase look easy and tie up the series.

Heading to Visakhapatnam, the series will now go down to the wire and for the game here are our preview and predictions.

South Africa tour of India 2025 | 3rd ODI | 13:30 IST, December 6, 2025

After a horrid time with the bat in the red ball series, the Men in Blue have turned things around moving to the white-ball format and after a strong batting performance in the opening game in Ranchi, the hosts followed it up with another strong batting showing in the second game in Raipur. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal gave the hosts another brisk start before a 190-run partnership between Kohli and Gaikwad saw India set the base for a big score. KL Rahul’s late fireworks saw India cross the 350 mark and while KL Rahul and the management will be pleased the way the top and middle order is firing, the team is missing a strong finisher, with Jadeja’s struggles to get going quickly having hurt the team in Raipur. 

With the ball, the Indian  bowlers might have conceded 359 but on a wicket that got much better to bat on along with the dew factor that made the bowling difficult, the positives for the hosts will be Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh’s efforts but Kuldeep Yadav being expensive in back-to-back games would be a worry for the team, especially given that he remains the frontline spinner. Ravindra Jadeja being wicketless at home would also be a worrying factor for the hosts. With no Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj or even Mohammed Shami, the young and inexperienced seam attack has stepped up when needed and on a track where they will get some assistance, the likes of Singh, Rana and Prasidh Krishna should have a strong outing.

After a top order collapse in the opening game, it was Aiden Markram with a fighting century at the top with crucial contributions from captain Temba Bavuma, Matthew Breetzke and Dewald Brevis that saw the visitors chase down a big total. The likes of Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch’s lower order contributions will be a big positive for the visitors as well with Tony de Zorzi’s hamstring injury being the only blip in an otherwise strong outing for the batting unit. With the ball, the seamers, Lungi Ngidi, Nandre Burger and Marco Jansen stood out, being amongst the wickets and economical. Burger’s injury will be a cause for concern for Bavuma and co. 

The Visakhapatnam pitch will bring about runs once again but the seamers bowlers should get some assistance as well and despite going down in the second game, expect KL Rahul’s boys to bounce back and win out the ODI series.

Fantasy XI: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram, Virat Kohli, Dewald Brevis, KL Rahul, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Cobin Bosch, Kuldeep Yadav

Venue: Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam

Winners Prediction: India