 After winning their first test series on home soil in three years, South Africa
plan to inflict more damage on the touring Sri Lankans when the two sides clash
in the opening ODI of the five-match series at Paarl on Wednesday. The series
will be the first bilateral series between these two sides since 2004, with the
2006 series getting abandoned due to bad weather.
Click for Live Score Card of South Africa Vs Sri Lanka
After crashing out in the World Cup quarter-final last year, South Africa also
lost the ODI series to Australia. The current series will be the first under
AB De Villiers' captaincy who will also don the wicket-keepers' gloves. The
home side has announced a 14-man squad for the first two ODIs. Hashim Amla
will look to exploit his extended purple patch and score the bulk of runs. Also
back in the squad is power-hitter Albie Morkel, thanks to a flurry of
impressive performances on the domestic circuit. On the bouncy tracks, Dale
Steyn, Lonwobo Tsotsobe and Wayne Parnell can prove to be more than a handful
for the Lankan batsmen.
For Sri Lanka, it is a time to put behind off-field issues such as pending
player payments and put together a combined effort similar to their shock win
in the Durban test match. Captain Tillkaratne Dilshan is still in search of
his first series win as captain, having also lost to Pakistan in the UAE. Their
hopes will be boosted by the addition of Lasith Malinga to the squad
who has confined himself to limited-overs cricket. Rangana Herath also
earned a recall to the ODI squad following his impressive show in the test matches.
Kumar Sangakkara's form will again be the Achilles' heel in team's fortunes
while Mahela Jayawardene will look to overcome his prolonged slump.
This match will be the first at Boland Park in eight years. Wasim Akram picked
up his 500th ODI wicket when the last match was played here. Sri Lanka
and South Africa have come face-to-face at this ground once previously, with
an easy win for South Africa in Dilhara Fernando's debut match.
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