Sri Lanka will take on South Africa in the third One Day International with a quest to stay alive in the series. South Africa has won the first two matches of the five-match series to stamp their authority. Interestingly, the Proteas has had their wood on Sri Lanka as they have won the last ten matches against them.
Thus, the visitors will be eager to continue with their good form and wrap up the series. There is no doubt that South Africa will once again go in as red hot favorites and they would aim to take an impregnable 3-0 lead.
South Africa will like to seal the series.
Meanwhile, there are areas in which both teams will like to work on. Sri Lankan batting display has been poor so far as they have lacked the consistency. In fact, the host’s batsmen are finding it difficult to get going against the pace battery of the visitors.
Kagiso Rabada was the chief destroyer in the first One-Dayer whereas his bowling partner Lungi Ngidi played the same role in the second match as he took three wickets. Andile Phuhlukwayo scalped three wickets and it was another positive for the tourists as the medium pacer would have gained confidence.
Sri Lanka will like to show a better application in the batting department as well as in the field.
However, Sri Lanka’s wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella was able to score a free-flowing knock of 69 runs. The host’s skipper Angelo Mathews had to do the re-building work. Therefore, Mathews took 111 balls to get to his 79 runs. The lower order could not provide the finishing touches and Sri Lanka had to settle with a paltry score of 244 runs.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka was pathetic in the field as they kept fluffing their catches. Both South Africa’s openers Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla were dropped and hence given second lives. Consequently, both the opening batsmen made sure that Sri Lanka pays a hefty amount for the poor show in the field as they set up a platform of 91 runs. Thus, the Island nation will like to pull their socks in the fielding department.
South Africa will like to counter spin better.
On the other hand, Quinton de Kock was the architect of South Africa’s chase. The southpaw batsman scored a fine 87 to help his team get closer to the target. Aiden Markram continued his struggle against the spinners as Dananjaya caught him in his spin web. Thus, Markram who has shown the promise to be future of South African cricket will have his work cut against his kryptonite.
Meanwhile, Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis continued his love affair of scoring his 40’s. The right-hander felt one run short of what would have been his 30th fifty.
JP Duminy continued from where he left in the first match as he scored 32 runs off 29 balls. There were some hiccups in the end, but South Africa had enough wickets as well as balls to chase down the target.
Date and Time: 5th August 2018, 10:00 AM IST.
Venue: Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele.
Weather Conditions: A cloudy morning is expected to greet the players. In fact, a thunderstorm can also play a killjoy in the match.
Pitch Conditions: The weather will play a part and the seamers can come into action. Thus, with weather expected to play a spoilsport, the captain winning the toss will like to field first.
Sri Lanka’s Predicted XI: Upul Tharanga, Niroshan Dickwella, Angelo Mathews (c), Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera (wk), Thisara Perera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Akila Dananjaya, Kasun Rajitha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Suranga Lakmal.
South Africa’s Predicted XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis (c), Jean-Paul Duminy, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Willem Mulder.
Stats
Sri Lanka has lost their last ten matches while playing against South Africa. This is their worst record against any team.
Kusal Perera has scored 1949 runs in his ODI career thus far. Therefore, the southpaw batsman is 51 runs shy of the 2000 run-mark.
Quinton de Kock has scored 3994 runs so far in the 50-overs format. Consequently, the left-handed batsman needs another six runs to complete 4000 runs.