India vs South Africa 3rd Test: Cape Town Newlands Stadium Pitch Report, Weather Forecast, Test Records & Stats

India face South Africa in the third Test on Tuesday (All Images: BCCI)

Cape Town, January 10: India will face South Africa in the third Test at Newlands Stadium here from Tuesday (January 11) with an eye on their maiden series win in the Rainbow Nation.

At present, both the team are tied at 1-1 after India won the Centurion Test and South Africa replied with a victory at the Wanderers. The third Test promises to be a closely-contested affair with both the teams vying for the series.

India will be eager to win the match and bag the series and they will hope that regular captain Virat Kohli will play in this Test after missing the second Test at Johannesburg with an upper back spasm. Similarly, the fitness of Mohammad Siraj too will be closely monitored after the pacer suffered a hamstring injury during the last Test.

In case, Siraj is not able to play this Test then India can think of bringing in either Ishant Sharma or Umesh Yadav, though the latter seems to have an edge at the moment if such a situation arises.

So, here is some essential info like pitch and weather reports at Cape Town with a smattering of records.

1 Cape Town Weather

The third Test between India and South Africa might see its share of rain interruptions especially on the first day i.e. Tuesday (January 11). The humidity is predicted to be very high and that keeps the chances of rain high for this Test. But not at the level to thwart the match. So, fingers crossed!

2 Cape Town Pitch Report

The Newlands pitch is different from that of the Johannesburg that offered plenty of assistance to the bowlers in the form of bounce. But here, the batsmen will find the life much easier as the bounce is linear and has a good outfield too. Spinners might have a bit more role in Newlands than at the Wanderers where pacers bowled most of the overs.

3 Cape Town Test Stats

Most runs: Sachin Tendulkar is the highest run-getter for India at this venue. The Mumbaikar has made 489 runs here from 4 Tests at 81.50 with 2 hundreds and 2 fifties. None of the current Indian batsmen figure in the run-getters list. While South Africa captain Dean Elgar has a good record here scoring 708 runs from 10 matches 50.57 with 2 hundreds and 3 fifties.

Most Wickets: Former SA bowler Dale Steyn is the highest wicket-taker at this ground with 74 wickets from 15 matches. Among the current lot, Kagiso Rabada has a fine record here taking 35 wickets from 6 Tests. None of the present Indian bowlers feature in the top list.

For India, former pacer Javagal Srinath is the highest wicket-taker with 12 wickets from 2 Tests. Anil Kumble has taken 11 wickets from 3 Tests and Zaheer Khan has bagged 9 wickets from 2 matches.

4 India vs SA head to head in Cape Town

South Africa have played 58 Tests in Newlands and won 26 matches while losing 21. They were involved in 11 draws. India have played 5 Test matches at this venue, and they have lost 3 of them while drawing 2.