South Africa v Sri Lanka, 1st T20I, Preview - Sri Lanka seek change in fortune against new look Proteas

After being badly beaten and thoroughly outplayed, team Sri Lanka is now up against a new-look South Africa side. The formats have changed and the visitors will hope for their fortunes to change as well. The T20Is are perhaps the best bet for the Lankans to notch up a few wins on the tour. The inexperience in the South African line-up is evident. Barring David Miller, no other player has had a lot of international games under their name. The three-match T20I series kicks off as action moves to Centurion.

While the hosts have a plethora of youngsters in their lineup, the Sri Lankan team will rely on their senior players to click on the day. South Africa will be led by middle order batsman Farhaan Behardien. The hosts have opted to rest the senior players and drafted in domestic heavyweights like JJ Smuts in the lineup. The sold-out match is expected to see some big hitting and the audiences are surely up for a cracker of a game.

Team News

South Africa

The hosts shocked quite a few pundits when they drafted in as many as 6 uncapped players in their squad. All of them are likely to make their T20I debuts in the match against Sri Lanka. Farhaan Behardien will take the charge of leading the side for the first time. Opener JJ Smuts will be the man to watch out for. Prior to the commencement of the series, there were talks about batsman AB de Villiers staging a comeback in the T20Is against Sri Lanka. However, he has failed to regain fitness and hence will not feature in the shortest format.

Middle order batsman David Miller is interestingly the most experienced batsman of the team. Skipper Behardien confirmed that Miller will be promoted up the order in the T20 series. The bowling department will see Imran Tahir being the senior most pro in the unit. The team management might well have selection conundrums when it comes to the spin department though.

They are most likely to field Imran Tahir in the lineup. However, Aaron Phangiso has also made a strong claim for a place in the national setup. The performance of either of them will determine who plays in the next fixture. The young side has nothing to lose and might well go out all guns blazing.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s ace pacer Lasith Malinga has failed to make it to the squad due to an injury. This means that the likes of Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep will shoulder the responsibility of being the spearheads of the bowling attack. Dhananjaya de Silva might be promoted up the order to open the innings after a decent show in the recent past.

Talking about the finisher, the team will hope that Seekkuge Prasanna continues his rich run of T20 form in the series against the Proteas. Prasanna was a high-value player in the Bangladesh Premier League that concluded a couple of months ago. He was renowned for his quick cameos in the tournament. He will take the role of the finisher for the visitors.

Rookie batsman Thikshila de Silva is likely to make his debut as the visitors will be keen to beef up their batting order. Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal will have to shoulder majority of responsibility if the hosts wish to give themselves a crack at the victory.

Toss: Sri Lanka opted to bowl (10 overs per side)

South Africa (Playing XI): JJ Smuts, Heino Kuhn(w), Theunis de Bruyn, David Miller, Farhaan Behardien(c), Mangaliso Mosehle, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Aaron Phangiso, Imran Tahir, Lungisani Ngidi

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews(c), Dinesh Chandimal(w), Danushka Gunathilaka, Seekkuge Prasanna, Thikshila de Silva, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep

Match Facts

Venue: Supersport Park, Centurion

Time: 1800 (local), (1600 GMT), 2130 (IST)

Pitch Verdict: Slightly on the slower side

StAttack

• This is the first time when South Africa will play Sri Lanka in home conditions. They have never played a T20I in South Africa yet.
• In the head to head clashes, the hosts have managed to win 4 matches out of the 6 played. Sri Lanka have won just two.
• David Miller had recently hit a century while batting at number 4 in the domestic T20 tournament for the Knights (121 off 61 balls).