PORT ELIZABETH - South African captain Aiden Markram won the toss in the fifth ODI at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth and elected to bowl.
The Proteas are coming off a morale-boosting victory at the Wanderers which kept them alive in the series, and will be hoping for another win here in the Windy City to keep the series alive heading into the final match on Friday at Centurion.
The home team have made one change with left-arm Chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi coming into the team for the injured Chris Morris. The all-rounder has a stiff back and was not considered for selection.
"Pretty clear on what we want to do. We've heard that it's skidding on under lights and that's the reason we want to chase," Markram said at the tiss. "It's overcast now as well, so it lends itself to bowling. The most important thing is to start well and really get into the Indian middle-order. Confidence levels are up and energy levels are up. I don't sense anyone being tired. "
Meanwhile, India will be hoping to close out their first ever series win in South Africa after their slip-up at the Bullring. The visitors’ spinners dominated the first three matches of the series, with their two wrist spinners being particularly effective.
"We wanted to bowl first as well. Restrict them a total that we could chase down. The whole idea was to bowl at them for 50 overs with our wristspinners, who can exploit any conditions. Nevertheless, it will be a good wicket to play on throughout," India captain Virat Kohli said.
"Looks very good to bat on. Must win game for them, we have the lead, the advantage and we want to put on some decent runs on the board. It might not be as easy to bat on, so we need to be smart about [setting a total]. We knew conditions might not suit our wristspinners, we didn't care if they got hit, but obviously they've performed above expectations.
Teams for St George's Park:
South Africa: Hashim Amla, Aiden Markram (capt), JP Duminy, AB de Villiers, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir.
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.