Sri Lanka v South Africa Preview, Sydney

Should Sri Lanka lose on Wednesday, it will mean the end of Jayawardene’s international career, and the end of Sangakkara’s ODI career. It’s not something that is lost on the team; they don’t want these two heroes to fade away into the sunset, and while it is too early to think of a triumphant sendoff after the March 29 final, the aim is to play well enough on Wednesday to at least give themselves a chance of getting to that final at the MCG.

Form, momentum, statistics, history – they are all good pointers of what is, not what will be. And none of this will count for anything at all when it comes to the crunch. The toss might, especially if Mathews wins it and Sri Lanka posts something in the region of 280. The crowd might, what with a majority of a full house expected to be colourful, fun-loving, singing and dancing Sri Lankan fans with the papare playing in the background. The skills most certainly will. And as much as anything, the mind will, too.

Teams (from):
South Africa: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers (capt), David Miller, Rilee Rossouw, JP Duminy, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Farhaan Behardien, Kyle Abbott, Aaron Phangiso, Wayne Parnell.

Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews (capt), Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera, Upul Tharanga, Sachithra Senanayake, Suranga Lakmal.

You can follow the build up to the game and the live scoring and match highlights for South Africa v Sri Lanka here in the ICC Match Centre.