South Africa have a reputation for doing well in the group stages of all World Cups or major tournaments, only to choke in the final stages. AB de Villiers, the South African captain and perhaps their greatest cricketer ever, will desperately want to shake off the tag of ‘chokers’.
Tomorrow’s match against Sri Lanka is not really a test for the South Africans. They are expected to win this, and win it easily, given that the Sri Lankan team are not the force that they once used to be. South Africa should dominate tomorrow’s match.
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Let’s see why. South Africa have four batsmen ranked in the ICC top ten, while Angelo Mathews, the best Sri Lankan batsman is ranked No. 26! South Africa have some of the best bowlers on the world, with the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir, while Sri Lanka have no real international class bowler with the exception of Lasith Malinga.
But Malinga is in his mid-thirties right now, and completely unfit. He has lost much of his pace and is no longer as dangerous as he once used to be. It would be asking too much of him to spearhead the Sri Lankan bowling and he does not seem to be threatening anymore to the opposition. This is a sad fact of life, all professional athletes lose their mojo as they get older. It is the case with Malinga as well.
Sri Lanka have a bunch of young players, none of whom have really proven themselves at the highest level. They will depend heavily on captain Angelo Mathews – who is no great form himself – to steer the ship.
Their young batsmen like Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella have talent, there is no question about that, but performing against a team like South Africa in English conditions is not the same as scoring runs at home against a mediocre outfit.
They will want all-rounder Thisara Perera to do something of note. He has always threatened to do something, but never has, and remains full of unfulfilled potential despite having been around in international cricket for over a decade!
South Africa lost their series against England, but they were lethal on the last game, destroying England. They look good and very confident. They have Rabada bowling really fast with Wayne Parnell offering good support. Backed by a solid batting outfit, they will go far in this tournament.
The Teams
South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 David Miller, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Wayne Parnell/Morne Morkel, 9 Andile Phehlukwayo, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Imran Tahir
Sri Lanka: 1 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 2 Upul Tharanga (capt), 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Asela Gunaratne, 6 Chamara Kapugedara, 7 Kusal Perera, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Lakshan Sandakan, 11 Lasith Malinga
Match conditions
The Oval has always had something for batsmen, but this time it may seam around a bit because of all the cloud cover. Expect light showers during the match.
