With the series poised at 1-1, the third cricket one-day international between India and South Africa in Chennai on Tuesday could literally turn into a damp squib with heavy rains lashing the city since early morning.
The morale in the Indian camp is high after they snipped South Africans' winning run extending to 20 matches to bounce back in the series and Greg Chappell's men would now be keen to build on that win.
The weather, however, threatens to play spoilsport with heavy rains lashing the city since early morning under the influence of a depression in Bay of Bengal. More rains are forecast for Tuesday with the depression moving towards the city.
The teams, nevertheless, would not like to think too much about the weather and concentrate on the strategies instead for the day-night match to be played at the M A Chidambaram Stadium.
As for India, they go into the match with added confidence, having won seven of their last nine one-day matches inside a month. Also, at home, the Indians have won all five previous one-day series against South Africa, from 1991-92 to 1999-2000.
The confidence for a positive result could be seen in Rahul Dravid's decision to declare the composition of the side, which remains unchanged from the Bangalore tie, almost 48 hours before the match.
"We will go with the same winning combination, and any changes in the batting order will be decided before the match. We will try our best to go up in the series with a 2-1 margin," Dravid said.
South African coach Micky Arthur has admitted that the Indian team has more depth in batting compared to South Africa, the Hyderabad tie being a stark reminder.
"Our team is on a learning process, with the players being young and inexperienced. The Indians have solid batting depth, as seen in Hyderabad, where Yuvraj Singh turned the tide with a century knock after they were 35 for five at one stage.
"The pitch looks to be a spinning track and we will assess the conditions tomorrow before deciding the playing eleven. We might include a bowler as a Supersub," he said.
The high confidence level of the home team revolves around the fact that Chappell has brought about a total transformation with his experimentations in line-ups and batting order.
The performance of youngsters has also been heartening with players like Gautam Gambhir and bowler Rudra Pratap Singh delivering the goods.
R P Singh has been reasonably economical while spinners Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik have also proved their worth in tying down the aggressive African batsmen.
The Indian pace attack is also in safe hands.
Spearhead Irfan Pathan has been a thorn in the visitors' flesh both with his bowling and batting and Ajit Agarkar has also displayed his variety to beguile the rival batsmen.
Added to this, the return to form of swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag in the Bangalore tie, augurs well for India.
Sehwag batted lower down in the order, but with a sense of plan and made a superb unbeaten 77, which helped shape India's series levelling six-wicket win.
Importantly, the Chepauk turf has been a happy hunting ground for master blaster Sachin Tendulkar.
If Tendulkar, who has scored in single digits in the first two matches, finds his moorings with a solid knock tomorrow, it would give a big boost to India.
The Mumbai batsman and Dravid, who have been the missing links on the performance charts of late, would hold the key to India's chances.
The visitors, playing in Chepauk for the first time, will bank on Shaun Pollock and Mkhaya Ntini for early breakthroughs into the strong Indian batting line up.
In batting, South Africa will rely heavily on skipper Graeme Smith, the flamboyant Justin Kemp and the experienced Jacques Kallis.
This is the 10th one-day match at the M A Chidambaram stadium and the 49th between these sides. South Africa have won 29, as against 17 by India (two ended in no result).
Teams (from):
India: Rahul Dravid (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Mohammad Kaif. Super Sub: Gautam Gambhir.
South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Jacques Kallis, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, Andrew Hall, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt, Albie Morkel, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Ontong, Robin Peterson, Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince.
