It has been more than ten months or five Test games since the last time South Africa lost a Test match. This pretty much explains why they are in the second position, slightly below India in terms of points, and convincingly ahead of Australia and Sri Lanka, who had occupied the top positions for the larger part of the current World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. While they would hope to continue this winning streak to keep their WTC final hopes breathing, Sri Lanka are looking for ways to stifle them because the berth on the train bound to the Lord’s is not large enough for both.
What happens in Durban should really stay in Durban. Or so Sri Lanka would want. And why wouldn’t they? No one wants to enter a virtual quarter-final with the ghosts of the past tagging along. 42 all out might have been too disgraceful to swallow but what Gqeberha has for the visitors would require more of their thoughts. It’s a matter of the Islanders’ survival. If they want not to pin their WTC hopes on the failure of other teams, they will have to make sure the green top in Gqeberha haunts them less than their opponent this time.
Team Overview:
South Africa had to suffer huge blows in the form of injuries to their pacers. Wiaan Mulder and Gerald Coetzee have both been ruled out of the series with their respective injuries. Dane Paterson comes in as the replacement pacer for one of the sidelined. Instead of scratching their head more and calling up another pacer or at least a bowler, the hosts have brought in the batter Ryan Rickelton, to go batting-heavy. Keshav Maharaj will be the sole spinner again. The pitch has grass on it but the South African camp is hoping for the first few days to be rewarding for the batters, hence, bulk storing of their batting resources.
Sri Lanka, reportedly, are looking the other day. The Islanders will likely field a four-headed pace attack with no frontline spinner. This looks like a kamikaze attempt, especially when seen from South Africa’s lens. However, in the hosts’ defense, they have a 42-all-out PTSD, which is, if anything, getting triggered by the green goblins on the surface. They will rely on the part-timers to take on the spinners’ job. The batting line looks settled. Yes, it was a pedestrian display of batting in the first game but no one can fault the batters for it.
Head-to-Head Matches:
South Africa have battled Sri Lanka in 32 long-format games. Out of these, the Proteas have come out at the top in 17, while Sri Lanka bested 9. The remaining six ended without any result. The last time both sides played here, Sri Lanka bested the game by eight wickets.
Weather and Pitch Report:
The deck is green and winds are blowing too but not the kind that favors the bowlers. The opposite, actually. The winds don’t have any moisture in them. In fact, a hessian was laid onto the pitch on Wednesday to stop the loss of moisture. This means batting would be easier on the first couple of days, after which spinners can be expected to make hay. The rain is forecasted to stay away from the ground on all five days, however, the penultimate might see more grey clouds overhead. The toss-winning captain would want to bat first.
Where to Watch:
South Africa: Super Sport
Sri Lanka: Sirasa, Maharaja TV, TV1, Shakti TV
Pakistan: Tapmad, Tamasha, PTV Sports, Ten Sports
India: JioCinema App
UK: Sky Sports, Sky Go
Australia: Prime Video
US: Willow TV
