South Africa v Sri Lanka 3rd T20I, Cape Town – Preview

Sri Lanka will need to dig deep and overcome the absence of two key players to get the better of South Africa in the third and decisive Twenty20 International at Newlands in Cape Town on Wednesday (January 25).

After going down by 19 runs in the opener, Sri Lanka won the second T20I by three wickets on Sunday to leave the series tied 1-1. The win in Johannesburg was Sri Lanka’s first of the tour. South Africa had swept the preceding Test series 3-0.

Sri Lanka will be without Angelo Mathews, the skipper, and Nuwan Pradeep for the final T20I and the upcoming five-match One-Day International series. Danushka Gunathilaka too misses out due to a niggle in his back.

While Gunathilaka hasn’t played for Sri Lanka since September last year, Mathews and Pradeep have been regular performers in Tests and in limited-overs cricket.

Dinesh Chandimal, who will lead the side in Mathews’ absence, is coming off an unsuccessful Test series and hasn’t done much with the bat in the T20Is either. Sri Lanka will hope for the senior wicketkeeper-batsman to fire as he takes charge from Mathews.

It should worry Sri Lanka that it hasn’t been able to put up good scores despite coming up against an inexperienced South African bowling unit. Even in its win, chasing 114, Sri Lanka lost seven wickets before Mathews, twisted ankle and all, came up with an unbeaten 54 under pressure to see it through.

One of the major talking points of South Africa’s performances in the T20Is has been Lungi Ngidi’s bowling. The 20-year-old paceman from Durban has picked up six wickets so far, with the last game yielding returns of 4 for 19 from four overs. His performance earned him spot in the ODI side.

“I think a superstar has been born," Farhaan Behardien, the South African captain, said of Ngidi after the second tie. "I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, he is only 20, but if he keeps his feet on the ground, he will have a long career.

"He bowled out of his skin with good pace and bounce. Even on a slowish wicket, he got the breakthroughs for us that we needed. He got three wickets in his first few overs and a breakthrough in his fourth over. He was somebody that we could turn to to strike, I’m really pleased for him.”

Sri Lanka too has an ace up its sleeve. Lakshan Sandakan, the left-arm chinaman bowler, is raking in the plaudits. Sandakan, who had played three Tests and an ODI before making his T20I debut on Sunday, put up a fine show in his very first game, picking up 4for 23, and Chandimal will hope South Africa’s relatively inexperienced batsmen continue to have difficulties in picking him off the hand.

The T20I series will be followed by the five-match ODI showdown which will start on January 28 at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth.

Teams (from):

South Africa: Farhaan Behardien (capt), Theunis de Bruyn, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heino Kuhn, David Miller, Mangaliso Mosehle (wk), Lungi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell, Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Jon-Jon Smuts.

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (capt, wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Thikshila de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Asela Gunaratne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Kusal Mendis, Sachith Pathirana, Seekkuge Prasanna, Lakshan Sandakan, Isuru Udana.

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