T20 World Cup: South Africa v Sri Lanka Preview

Bet Central previews the T20 World Cup match between South Africa and Sri Lanka scheduled to be played in Sharjah tomorrow.

South Africa and Sri Lanka both managed to win one match out of their first two. Their encounter will be a must-win for both teams as the Super 12 groups leave little to no room for any team with two or more losses.

South Africa T20 World Cup Form

The Proteas have won one of their two T20 World Cup matches so far. Having lost the first match against Australia, the Proteas managed to win the second match against defending champions, West Indies, despite all the drama that was happening within the team.

Momentum is with the Proteas going into this encounter on Saturday. In the controversial absence of Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks stepped up and made an authoritative 39 off 30 deliveries. Rassie van der Dussen plays the anchor role superbly within the side, while Aiden Markram is the top attacker in the tournament so far as he registered the tournament’s fastest fifty of just 25 deliveries.

Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje have been superb with the ball upfront for South Africa. Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj and the versatile Dwaine Pretorius complement the two strike bowlers in Nortje and Rabada.

South Africa Probable XI

1. Reeza Hendricks

2. Quinton de Kock (wk)

3. Temba Bavuma ©

4. Rassie van der Dussen

5. Aiden Markram

6. David Miller

7. Dwaine Pretorius

8. Keshav Maharaj

9. Kagiso Rabada

10. Anrich Nortje

11. Tabraiz Shamsi

South Africa Key Players

1. Aiden Markram

2. Anrich Nortje

3. Dwaine Pretorius

Sri Lanka T20 World Cup Form

Sri Lanka started off their World Cup campaign with a brilliant run chase against Bangladesh in which Charith Asalanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa both made half-centuries.

It is in their second match in which the bowling department disappointed the Sri Lankan’s as they lost by seven wickets against Australia. The fast bowlers in particular were costly and could not control the run rate as they went for over 60 runs in the first six overs.

Their spinners, on the other hand, are having a decent World Cup, but still fall short of what we thought they would achieve in those conditions. To a team like South Africa, they are a massive threat. Skipper Dasun Shanaka will be key in this encounter with his rotation of bowlers and his ability to adapt his plans according to the game situation instead of continuing with premeditated game plans that do not work in games.

Sri Lanka Probable XI

1. Pathum Nissanka

2. Kusal Perera (wk)

3. Charith Asalanka

4. Avishka Fernando

5. Bhanuka Rajapaksa

6. Wanindu Hasaranga

7. Dasun Shanaka ©

8. Avishka Fernando

9. Dishmantha Chameera

10. Akila Dananjaya

11. Maheesh Theekshana

Sri Lanka Key Players

1. Bhanuka Rajapaksa

2. Wanindu Hasaranga

3. Charith Asalanka

Match Verdict

This is a straightforward one for me. South Africa to win convincingly against Sri Lanka. We have beaten them in a T20I series in Sri Lanka a month ago, I don’t foresee a different result come Saturday.

BET Contributor