Vernon Philander reminded us that "stats don't lie". But sometimes they don't tell the truth either.

The data on Holkar Stadium in Indore, where India and SA clash in the second one-day international (ODI) today, marks one of those times.

Only three matches in the format have been played there, all of them won by the home side. That sample size is too small to take seriously, but the numbers make intriguing reading nonetheless.

Blessed or cursed with a small outfield and short straight boundaries, Indore is in an elite club of six venues - four of them in India - that have seen a double hundred in an ODI: Virender Sehwag's 219 against West Indies in December 2011.

India scored 418/5 that day, good enough for sixth place on the list of the highest ODI totals.

But only one other century has been struck there despite batsmen having reached 50 on 13 other occasions. Only four of those efforts have been by foreigners, who count Denesh Ramdin's 96 as their highest score.

Today's match is a day-nighter. The only previous match under lights in Indore was the West Indies game, in which India batted first and won by 153 runs. In the two day games, both against England, they won by 54 runs and seven wickets with five balls to spare.

Not that SA bowling coach Charl Langeveldt was in an analytical mood when he faced the press in Indore yesterday. Rather, he was having a lapse of reason.

"We've been really working hard at staying in the moment," he said. "In the past we have had moments where we have lost big moments and at the moment we are trying to stay in the big moments and not trying to change too much.

"In India you don't give up," he said. "The saying is always to compete. If you go for six, you compete with the next ball. We are competing every ball."