Srilanka vs Southafrica 2nd Test :July 20-24, 2018 at Colombo

[Room@ Rome]

http://m.cricbuzz.com/cricket-commentary/20165/sl-vs-rsa-2nd-test-south-africa-tour-of-sri-lanka-2018

 

Starts at 10:00 AM IST (04:30 GMT), Jul 20

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preview

Patience, perseverance, courage, shrewdness are the key qualities expected out of South Africa's batsmen when they take on Sri Lanka in the final Test of the two-match series in Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo on Friday (July 20).

The Proteas' inability to tackle quality spin was badly exposed in Galle by Ranaga Herath and company. The lack of a confidence in their own defence was evident and few even threw wickets away in trying to use their feet.

Battling spin in the sub-continent requires a lot of skill and mental toughness. The visitors need not look beyond their captain, Faf du Plessis, for lessons. The most important thing he did well in the first innings was to not push hard at the ball and he was smart enough to give due respect to the bowlers when they were on top of their game.

The think tank must have tried to address these issues in the build-up to the second Test, but it'll all come down to how well the batsmen execute while out in the middle. The post AB de Villiers era will take time to blossom, but South Africa would want to show some fight, even if they are to go down in Colombo.

There is not much to worry about in the bowling department though. Kagiso Rabada can threaten batsmen anytime, while Keshav Maharaj's variations and accuracy keeps the pressure on batsmen. The visitors would immensely benefit if the-bowling-well-within-himself Dale Steyn steps up a notch. Mystery man Tabraiz Shamsi too needs to compliment Maharaj to keep the Sri Lankans honest.

Although Sri Lanka won the game by a massive margin, they did not have a satisfying outing with the bat. Dimuth Karunaratne is in sublime form, scoring 448 runs in his last five innings (including two matches for Sri Lanka A). The second best individual score in the first innings was 26 and the disturbing thing is that their No. 11 made the next best. In the second innings too, only three batsmen crossed 20. This sort of a batting display, especially when playing at home, will not please the team management.

The surface at SSC generally plays better for batting than Galle and this should be an ideal opportunity for Suranga Lakmal and Co. to better their numbers. The presence of savvy spinners in Herath and Dilruwan Perera irons out the flaws with the bat. The duo have been making batsmen dance to their tunes for a considerable period and Sri Lanka will hope their wonderful partnership continues to bring more success.

What to expect: No doubt the pitch will assist the spinners, but it is expected to play better for batsmen than the first Test. Inclement weather is predicted on all five days of the game.

Team news

South Africa

Will the visitors rope in a specialist batsman to handle their batting woes in place a bowler? If yes, one of Vernon Philander or Tabraiz Shamsi could get the axe and make way for Theunis de Bruyn or Heinrich Klaasen. Philander hasn't looked ominous due to lack of lateral movement that he relies on, but he showed excellent application with the bat and batted better than most in the team in Galle.

Leaving out Shamsi would mean they will not have a second spinner, a strict no-no in sub-continental conditions. The team could also consider looking at Shaun von Berg, who can bat a bit as well. Faf and the management have a few interesting calls to make.

Probable XI: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis (c), Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (w), Vernon Philander/Theunis de Bruyn/Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Tabraiz Shamsi/Shaun von Berg

Sri Lanka

Barring injuries, the hosts are unlikely to tinker with their winning combination

Probable XI: Dimuth Karunaratne, Danushka Gunathilaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella(w), Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal(c), Lakshan Sandakan

What they said:

"Sri Lanka are really good in their conditions, they showed that when they beat Australia here as well. There is everything to play for, South Africans are known to bounce back when we do lose our first match. The boys have worked hard, we are ready to give Sri Lanka a go in their conditions. We have come here as underdogs," Keshav Maharaj, South Africa's spinner.

Teams

 

Sri Lanka (From): Danushka Gunathilaka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella(w), Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal(c), Rangana Herath, Lakshan Sandakan, Kusal Perera, Lahiru Kumara, Akila Dananjaya, Kasun Rajitha

 

 

South Africa (From): Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi, Shaun von Berg, Theunis de Bruyn, Heinrich Klaasen

 

 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2018 by Room@ Rome
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[R!TTER]

2-nil to Lankans unless one of the SA quicks blow the opposition away, ala Starc, twice in the match.

[Room@ Rome]

I wish southafrica bounce back

[prinzo]

MAHARAJ 4 wickets already

[Lala]

Maharaj has taken 8 wickets. Wow great effort.

[adi B]

Super effort put by maharaj but no support from the other end .277 is a huge score on a turner 

[Gollum]

Maharaj is a potential ATG, great to see an Indian origin player do so well.

[prinzo]

1 hour ago, Gollum said:

Maharaj is a potential ATG, great to see an Indian origin player do so well.

Yes nice to see our South African born indians given a chance now after all the years of oppression and race seperation in south Africa. Our great grandfather's came on slave ships from India in the 1800's

[SK_IH]

Akila enjoying the hapless saffers ,5 wkts haul coming up

[Clarke]

Amla dropped. 

 

Three down already

 

Boosts the gap between rank 1 & 2 

[G_B_]

Lankans are going to keep us number 1 if they win no matter what happens in the England v India series.

[SK_IH]

what a abject surrender from SA

[chewy]

Lol at Saffers

Have to say India the best Test team by far, hopefully a positive result in England will make India an outlier

 

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Lanka should just keep batting and pummel Saffers as much as they can. Plenty of time left in this test.

[prinzo]

33 minutes ago, chewy said:

Lol at Saffers

Have to say India the best Test team by far, hopefully a positive result in England will make India an outlier

 

 

India can smile but not laugh, because they lost the test series in South Africa. Overall test rankings India number 1 

[G_B_]

i suspect India is going to be as good as south africa are in sl when the test series v SL starts

[rkt.india]

this series is a farce

[rkt.india]

47 minutes ago, G_B_ said:

i suspect India is going to be as good as south africa are in sl when the test series v SL starts

we have beaten SL last two series at their home. just beaten them 3-0 last year and 2-1 before that.

Edited July 21, 2018 by rkt.india

[rkt.india]

20 hours ago, Gollum said:

Maharaj is a potential ATG, great to see an Indian origin player do so well.

Amla is also Indian origin and is a South Afrcan ATG.

[Lala]

6 hours ago, Clarke said:

Boosts the gap between rank 1 & 2 

Lets see the ranking after 5 matches with England