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Colombo, Aug 2 : Hello and welcome to the first T20I between Sri Lanka and South Africa at Colombo. After the humiliating loss in the ODI series, the visitors would be looking to make amends and start the 3-match T20I series on a winning note. Nuwan Kulasekara is back in the T20I squad to boost the hosts. The South African team captained by Faf du Plessis would love to strenghten their bowling attack with the inclusion of Imran Tahir.
South Africa have won the toss and have opted to bat
Teams:
South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Henry Davids, Faf du Plessis(c), AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, David Miller, David Wiese, Wayne Parnell, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kushal Janith Perera, Kumar Sangakkara(w), Dinesh Chandimal(c), Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis
Match Preview :
After a humiliating ODI series loss to Sri Lanka, South Africa will be hoping to salvage some pride when they take on the hosts in a three-match T20I series, the first of which will be played at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo on Friday. South Africa's dismal series ended on a 1-4 note when Sri Lanka comfortably thumped them by 128 runs at the same venue on Wednesday. The Proteas, who have now lost 13 of the 16 ODIs played against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, will be hoping for a turnaround of fortunes. Meanwhile, the Lankan T20I team, which will be led by Dinesh Chandimal will be looking to extend their winning run and torment the Proteas team, captained by Faf du Plessis, further.
Sri Lanka: The seniors in the Lankan team deserve the credit for their side's comfortable series win in the One-Dayers. Kumar Sangakkara was in fine form, compiling 372 runs at an average of 93 which won him the Player of the Series award. Tillakaratne Dilshan too was found his touch in the second-half of the ODI series, scoring a hundred and 99 in back-to-back matches. Thisara Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne too were amongst the runs, scoring a fifty each in the 3rd and the 5th ODIs respectively. While skipper Chandimal will be hoping that the batting department continues to perform in the same vein in the T20 matches, he will also be expecting an improved showing from Mahela Jayawardene Angelo Mathews and himself, with the bat.
Ajantha Mendis, after a fine showing with the ball in the 50-over games, will get another opportunity to have the South Africans hopping. The mystery spinner, who played three games, picked up 10 wickets at a strike rate of 17.2 and was the only Lankan bowler to pick up a four-wicket haul in the series. Rangana Herath, Dilshan, Perera and Lasith Malinga too were amongst the wickets although the latter was slightly expensive. Suranga Lakmal, who got to play the last ODI, made the opportunity count by picking up 3 wickets. Sri Lanka will go in with the same bowling line-up in the T20 matches and captain Chandimal will be hoping for them to continue in their disciplined ways.
South Africa: The experience of Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith were sorely missed by the visitors whose batting failed to click as a unit. The middle-order was consistently poor throughout the series and struggled to fire collectively. Although Hashim Amla, David Miller, JP Duminy and AB de Villiers scored a half-century each in the series, they all came in different games. The inability of the batters to score consistently was the main reason for South Africa's overwhelming series loss. Coach Russell Domingo pointed out that the lack of experience in Lankan conditions led to the batting failure. He mentioned that it was a massive learning curve for players like Farhaan Behardien, Miller and Du Plessis, who haven't played ODI cricket in Sri Lanka before. However, T20 captain du Plessis, who himself had a poor outing with the bat in the ODIs, will be hoping for the batters to show better application and make up for the dismal showing in the ODIs.
South Africa's bowlers did a slightly better job than the batsmen although most of them went in excess of 5 an over in the ODI series. Morne Morkel, who ended up with a total of 7 wickets, was the pick of lot while Lonwabo Tsotsobe also did a decent job, picking up six wickets. While the presence of Steyn and Kallis would have made a big difference to bowling attack, the Proteas do have quality bowlers to make up for their absence. But the likes of Chris Morris, Ryan McLaren and Robin Peterson have to mend their erratic ways in order to make a bigger impact.
Team News: Nuwan Kulasekara is back in the T20I squad to boost the hosts. In case Sri Lanka decide to include the right-arm pacer, they could bring him in as an all-rounder, replacing Thirimanne. Meanwhile, South Africa will look to strengthen their spin attack by including leg-spinner Imran Tahir while four pacemen - Wayne Parnell, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Rory Kleinveldt and Morne Morkel - will be vying for 2 spots.
Upcoming milestones:
48: The number of runs Jean-Paul Duminy requires to reach the mark of 1000 in T20I cricket. In case he gets the required runs in this series, Duminy will become the first South African and the 9th player overall with 1000 or more runs in T20Is.
1: The number of wickets Lasith Malinga needs to reach the mark of 50 in T20Is. He will become the first Sri Lankan and the 7th player overall with 50 or more wickets in case he picks up a wicket in the T20I series against South Africa.