South Africa will be determined to continue their domination over Sri Lanka in the upcoming fourth ODI at Newlands, Cape Town. So far, the ODI series hasn’t seen much of a competition between both the sides as the hosts have effortlessly gotten better of the visitors. The 3rd ODI at Johannesburg was no different in terms performance for Sri Lanka.
To describe in a simple sentence, they flunked yet again and in a more demoralising manner. With the series on the line, fans expected the Lankans to put up a better and improved performance. However, South Africa was in no mood to let the struggling team gather any momentum and crushed them by 7 wickets, chasing down the easy peasy target of 164 runs put up by Sri Lanka with 108 balls in hand.
The Proteas have their intentions clear now and are aiming for a whitewash, a fact that skipper Ab de Villiers confirmed after the match itself. A clinical finish to the series is what they are looking forward to in the final two game.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will enter with the same set of worries and problems with which they have been struggling so far. The pace and bounce of the South Africa pitches so far has been unsuitable and the young brigade must adapt if they wish to outmatch their opposition.
Team Composition:
South Africa may have won the series but the hunger to pocket the remaining two matches is evident. The win at Johannesburg was special. It got them their sixth successive ODI series at home and also extended their unbeaten streak to a record 12 wins since beating England last February. Given the comfortable situation they are in at the moment, it doesn’t seem they would tinker with the line-up. Their fast bowlers have been top notch. Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris have been consistent wicket takers with the new ball while Andile Phelukwayo has proved his worth, playing the role of the support cast to the lead bowlers. Dwaine Pretorius finished with a career-best 3 for 1. These performances might see him win a place for the upcoming game over Wayne Parnell. The batting order also doesn’t seem to have any weakness. Consistency can be valid shortcoming but someone or the other has stepped up and has compensated with a match winning way.
Sri Lanka hasn’t been able to bat at all against the opposition fast bowlers. The fact clearly reflects in the sub-200 totals the visitors have had in all the three games. Niroshan Dickwella and Upul Tharanga’s opening pair seems to be working after the experiment of including the 23 year old Sadum Weerakody in the first game failed Although, they are yet to put up any extraordinary show, the duo has successfully given decent starts of 45 and 60 for their team in the second and the third ODI. Comparatively, the pair has done well than their counterparts Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock to some extent.
Unfortunately, this happens to be the only positive fact in the batting department because as we go down the order, the batsmen look incompatible against pace and bounce. The bowling strategy of playing with an 4 man seam attack along with only one spinner in the form of Sandakan seems logical but in the end, it’s the effectiveness that counts which has been missing. They bowled first only on one occasion in the 2nd ODI and conceded 300 plus at the cost of just six wickets. They were far from being challenging in the 1st and the 3rd ODI as well.
Probable XI:
South Africa:
Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (WK), Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers (C), JP Duminy, Farhaan Behardien/ Dwaine Pretorius, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phelukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir
Sri Lanka:
Niroshan Dickwella, Upul Tharanga (C), Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal (WK), Dhanajaya de Silva, Asela Gunaratne, Chaturanga de Silva, Sachith Pathiran, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Lakshan Sandakan
Stats That Matter:
Quinton de Kock has effected 98 dismissals and needs 3 more to reach the 100 dismissals milestone, and also the 2,000 runs/100 dismissals milestone.
Match Timings:
5.00 pm IST
Who Said What:
“We try to be clinical about every game we play, with a bit more emphasis and importance on getting results in every single game we play and not just trying to win a series,” AB De Villiers
“I felt the bowlers gave 200%; they did a good job. Two more games to go. Our main concern is batting as I said,” Upul Tharanga