Farhaan Behardien: Shot selection will be tricky at bigger Newlands

SA's Farhaan Behardien plays a shot during the second T20I against India. Pic/AFP

South Africa's Farhaan Behardien reckons that the batsmen will have to be smart with shot-selection since big hits won't be easy to execute at the bigger Newlands in the series-deciding third Twenty20, here today. India have never played T20 cricket at Newlands and South Africa don't have a good record here either but they are familiar with the conditions.

"In the Highveld (Centurion) the ball flies and can go for six much more easily. Here we have to be slightly smarter as the ball does not travel that far. Maybe we need to target a flatter trajectory. Maybe the twos become important. The Newlands pitch hasn't changed much over the last two years. It is good. Some of the shots that go for six at Highveld can be caught at the boundary here," Behardien said.

"Last time we played here, we made 170 and Sri Lanka chased it. We had a few dropped catches and the wind was a bit swirling. I reckon between 160 and 180 will be the ideal score. The ball might swing a bit, as it is a 6pm start. "There could be some shape on offer. 160 is a very competitive score depending we play two spinners or they play two spinners. Like I said, the ball here doesn't travel as much as in Highveld. "So, one or two mishits here, you can pick a couple of wickets whereas in Johannesburg, with the kind of momentum, you can see the ball travel to boundary," he explained.

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