New Chandigarh weather and pitch report: What to expect during IND vs SA 2nd T20 at Mullanpur

Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium weather and pitch report: Buoyed by the clinical collective performance delivered by their bowling department that setup a commanding 101-run victory in Cuttack, Team India will be aiming to go 2-0 up in the five-match T20I series against South Africa when they face the Proteas in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh on Thursday.

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They will, however, be hoping for a better performance from their batting department, especially from their top order, with captain Suryakumar Yadav getting dismissed for a low score once again in the series opener on Tuesday.

The Proteas, on the other hand, will be hoping to put the disastrous batting performance at the Barabati Stadium behind and bounce back at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium less than 24 hours from now.

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They had swept the Test series 2-0 and had chased down 359 in Raipur during the ODI series, and will certainly back their chances of leveling the series in New Chandigarh before the two sides travel up the hills to Dharamsala for the third T20I.

Ahead of the second T20I, we take a look at what’s in store in New Chandigarh as far as the weather and the pitch is concerned:

Mullanpur, New Chandigarh Weather Report 

Winter is currently in full force in the northern part of the country, including in New Chandigarh, where the minimum temperature in Thursday’s forecast for the city reads 9 degrees Celsius. It won’t be that cold when the players walk out for the toss, however, with the temperature expected to hover around the 18-19 degree mark at that time. And it isn’t likely to drop below 12 degrees towards the end of the game.

While northern India does get patches of rainfall during winter, there is no such forecast for New Chandigarh for Thursday. Dew, however, could be a factor in such conditions, which certainly was the case during the ODI series.

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Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium Pitch Report

The pitch at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium, which will be hosting its first-ever men’s international match on Thursday, is a mixed bag. It has seen 200-plus totals in the IPL earlier this year, including a high-scoring Eliminator between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans. And it has also witnessed a paltry score of 111 being defended by Punjab Kings, the IPL franchise that shifted their base to this venue from the IS Bindra PCA Stadium in Mohali.

That said, the pitch generally offers a balanced contest between bat and ball and favours stroke-play with its quick outfield. Batters are likely to find plenty of support early on, with the spinners gradually coming into the picture as the game rolls on.

Toss isn’t expected to be a major factor here given that teams batting first have won six and lost five at this venue.

India vs South Africa T20I series: Squads

India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar.

South Africa: Aiden Markram (c), Ottneil Baartman, Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock (wk), Tony de Zorzi, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Tristan Stubbs.