Gambhir Return as India Sent South Africa to Bat

Cape Town: Indian skipper MS Dhoni ended his poor run with the coin by winning the toss and elected to field first in the third and final Test against South Africa on Sunday.

India, the world number one team, bounced back valiantly after an innings and 25 runs defeat in the first Test to level the series with an 87-run triumph in the second Test at Durban.

What seemed like a doomed tour after their shambolic batting in the opening Test suddenly came alive with a fightback in Durban, setting the stage for what promises to be an electrifying contest between two sides battling it out for the number one position.

However, India have never won, with a draw in 1993 being their best result at the Cape Town venue.

In all, India have played three Tests at the Newlands Cricket Ground and ended up on the losing side twice (by 282 runs in 1997 and by five wickets in 2007).

Most of the credit for the turnaround in India's fortunes goes to the return from injury of pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and middle-order batting mainstay VVS Laxman.

Zaheer's presence was especially inspiring for the rest of the Indian bowling and S Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma, both struggling in the opening Test, found their rhythm in Durban. Sreesanth was particularly lethal in the second innings, grabbing three wickets.

The batting, however, remains a bit of a concern as India collapsed in both the innings.

Teams:

South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher (wk), Paul Harris, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

India: Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Cheteshwar Pujara, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth

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