Team India have started the T20I series on a perfect note. Shivam Dube's career-best effort (60* off 40) and Jitesh Sharma’s quickfire 31 off 20 balls ensured there were no further hiccups.

Virat Kohli, who missed the first match due to personal reasons, will be back for the second game. Also, keep an eye out for Rinku Singh. India’s designated finisher has been in tremendous form and has been striking it at 172.

On a good batting surface with minimal movement upfront and no real signs of spin, the Indian seamers Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, and Shivam Dube did a pretty good job. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel was the pick of the lot, claiming figures of 2-23 in 4 overs.

Afghanistan had a poor outing in the first match of the series and will need to do a lot better if they hope to get past this Indian side in their den. On a great batting surface, they could only manage 158 on the board, thanks largely to Mohammad Nabi (42 off 27 balls).

All eyes will now be on Rahmanullah Gurbaz to deliver a promising start. The opening batter has been in excellent touch recently, scoring 206 runs in his last 7 matches at an average of 29.43 and a strike rate of 149.27.

Ibrahim Zadran can also have a good game, as this flat track should allow him to play his range of strokes freely.

Afghanistan’s bowling seemed to struggle in the absence of star spinner Rashid Khan. While Mujeeb Ur Rahman (21-2 from 4 overs) did a pretty good job, the others faltered, particularly Naveen-ul-Haq, who was taken for 43 runs in 3.3 overs. Their bowling doesn’t look threatening enough, and on this batting beauty, they are likely to be carted again.

Afghanistan are yet to beat India in T20Is after five attempts, and the trend is likely to continue. With no Rashid Khan in their team, their bowling attack looks insipid. Their batting is still pretty good, and if the top-order fires, they can challenge India.

India look all set to win the second match and take an unassailable 2-0 lead.

The last time Pretoria Capitals faced Paarl Royals at this venue, they put on a massive 226-run total batting first. While the effort was led by an 80-run knock from Kusal Mendis at the top, Ingram and Neesham were crucial as finishers.

And last year too, the Capitals had lost to the Royals at the Boland Park in Paarl in what was another low-scoring game. There is no Kusal Mendis this season and it will be Phil Salt and Will Jacks opening the innings for Pretoria Capitals. Jacks was impressive with the ball in the last game returning figures of 1 for 19 from his 3 Overs.There is Theunis de Bruyn at number 3 who’s another promising batter and will be one to watch out for.


Paarl Royals will be looking to carry the momentum as they come to Centurion to face the Capitals in the return game. Royals’ squad is one of the strongest in this tournament and features match-winning players in every department.

Andile Phehlukwayo, the experienced South African all-rounder comes in at number 7 in the batting order.Royals have also got Fabian Allen at number 6. He can make some impact on a good batting surface but isn’t a very reliable match-finisher. A lot depends on the skipper and number 4 batsman David Miller in this side.

The openers Jason Roy and Jos Buttler, two of the best T20 batters in the world.Though there is Wihaan Lubbe and Miller to follow in the middle order, without a special knock from either of these openers, the Royals may not reach as big a total.

Both teams are well-matched in every department. They had a great season last year where both met in the semi-finals where Capitals emerged victorious. Royals have started on a winning note, but we reckon the Capitals have what it takes to bounce back on their home turf. Pretoria Capitals will start with a slight edge going into this match and will be our favorites to win.

Pretoria Capitals to win