South Africa bowl first in final T20 against India

Johannesburg, 14 Dec- South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl in the third and final Twenty20 international against India at the Wanderers Stadium on Thursday.

Proteas captain Aiden Markram said they were following the pattern set in Tuesday's rain-hit second match in Gqeberha when South Africa won by five wickets after putting India in to bat.

"It is a fresh wicket and we were happy with the way we went about it in the previous game," said Markram.

Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav said the decision suited his side, which was unchanged from Tuesday.

"We were looking to bat first in this competition," said Yadav. "It is always a challenge putting runs on the board and defending."

With the first match rained off, South Africa lead the series 1-0.

The Proteas made three changes, with fast bowlers Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee released to play in first-class matches for their provinces ahead of a Test series at the end of the tour.

They were replaced by left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj and new cap Nandre Burger, a left-arm fast bowler.

Donovan Ferreira replaced Tristan Stubbs in a switch of aggressive batsmen.

Teams:

South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Matthew Breetzke, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen (wkt), David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Lizaad Williams, Nandre Burger, Tabraiz Shamsi

India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wkt), Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar

Umpires: Allahudien Palekar, Bongani Jele (both RSA)

TV umpire: Lubabalo Gcuma (RSA)

Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)