South Africa v Sri Lanka, 5th ODI, Centurion - Preview
Sri Lanka has one final chance to salvage a disappointing tour when it locks horns with South Africa in the fifth and final One-Day International in Centurion on Friday (February 10).
The come-from-behind 2-1 victory in the Twenty20 International series has been its only bright spot, sandwiched between a 3-0 drubbing in the preceding Test series and a 4-0 scoreline in favour of the home side in the ODIs.
Sri Lanka is without Angelo Mathews, back home nursing an ankle injury which has also ruled him out of the three-match T20I series in Australia later this month, and has had a tough time against a South Africa side firing on all cylinders. The celebrated return following elbow surgery of AB de Villiers has added more depth and firepower to an already formidable unit, and South Africa has repeatedly flexed its batting muscle.
Winning margins of eight wickets, 121 runs, seven wickets and 40 runs respectively in the first four matches won't please Sri Lanka. It has been let down by its batting group, and the one time the top order fired – in the previous game – wasn’t enough because by then, its bowlers had conceded 367 for 5 on the back of a blazing 185 from Faf du Plessis.
Upul Tharanga, standing in as captain for the series, led Sri Lanka’s reply with a spectacular 119, off just 90 deliveries with 11 fours and seven sixes, and added 139 for the opening wicket with Niroshan Dickwella in just 97 deliveries. Kusal Mendis and Sandun Weerakkody then kept the chase going so that with six and a half overs to go, Sri Lanka needed 61 runs with six wickets in hand.
However, Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir then got among the wickets as Sri Lanka lost its way, and the last six wickets for just 20 runs to go down to another defeat.
The task ahead of Tharanga will be to try and rouse the team into one big effort. That is easier said than done against a team that is clearly on top of its game, with all bases well covered both from a batting and a bowling point of view. While the batting has chugged on with contributions at various times from every top-order player, Rabada’s pace and Tahir’s combination of legspinners and googlies have proved a potent combination. Wayne Parnell’s left-arm swing has been equally incisive, and he leads the wicket-takers’ charts with nine sticks, alongside Tahir.
Sri Lanka’s best chance will be to hope that Tharanga and Nuwan Kulasekara, its most experienced batsman and bowler respectively, lead from the front and that its opponent has a rare off-day. But on what is expected to be a run-filled strip, South Africa’s batsmen meanwhile will be looking to fill their boots, so it could well be another long day for the visiting side.
Teams (from):
South Africa: AB de Villiers (capt), Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy, David Miller, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Farhaan Behardien, Dwaine Pretorius, Tabraiz Shamsi.
**Sri Lanka:**Upul Tharanga (capt), Niroshan Dickwella, Sandun Weerakkody, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Asela Gunaratne, Nuwal Kulasekara, Jeffrey Vandersay, Suranga Lakmal, Lakshan Sandakan, Chaturanga de Silva, Thikshila de Silva, Lahiru Madushanka, Sachith Pathirana, Isuru Udana, Seekkuge Prasanna.
