India's batsmen must perform

Even if India's batsmen put together a bit total, the bowlers will still have to stop Justin Kemp if they are to level the series © Getty Images

Having hammered Sri Lanka in the recent one-day series, India were brought back down to earth as they lost to South Africa in the opening match of their five-match series. The South Africans have now gone 20 one-day games unbeaten and India will have to perform much better in Bangalore on Friday if they are to get back on terms.

Yet again, South Africa found runs down the order to secure victory, and in Justin Kemp they appear to have unearthed a real star. An overall average of 37 is decent enough, but in his last 20 matches, he has been averaging 46. Indeed, the last time he ended up on the losing side in a one-dayer was against England back in January - and he and South Africa have not been beaten in the 20 matches since.

However, India's real problems in the opening match were with their batsmen as Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Kaif and Gautam Gambhir making a pathetic 13 runs between them. Had it not been for a century from Yuvraj Singh, the match would have been over in a couple of hours.

It is, though, highly unlikely that such a quality batting line-up can fail again and Tendulkar and Dravid, in particular, rarely fail twice in succession, even if Shaun Pollock remains one of the world's best new-ball bowlers, and Makhaya Ntini is also a real threat.

India should enjoy playing in Bangalore, too, as they have won eight and lost just four of the 12 one-day internationals they have played there. Of course, the fact that Friday's match is a day-nighter will also play a crucial role, as I believe every team who win the toss should bat first, as the night conditions make batting second much more problematic. Therefore, it is probably worth waiting until the toss to get involved, if you can, but otherwise, India should be able to win on home soil and square the series at 1-1, which is an 8/11 (1.72) chance.

Again, Tendulkar would be my choice as top India batsman, at 7/2 (4.50) simply because he will come good again soon, while Kemp has plenty of appeal at 6/1 (7.00) to be top South Africa bet.