South Africa enter only their second test series of the year when they take on Sri Lanka in the first test at Centurion from Thursday. Sri Lanka, on the contrary, will be hoping for their miserable year to come to an end already.

Sri Lanka have had a wretched run since reaching the World Cup final in April. Only recently, they lost 1-0 to Pakistan in UAE, even though the score line could have been much worse. Sri Lanka are also yet to win a test match on the South African soil. To make matters worse, the current squad looks highly unlikely to do so as the team finds it difficult finding its feet in the post-Muralitharan era.

In terms of team selections, Sri Lanka have worries already. Kumar Sangakkara, their premier batsman, has a hand injury that the team management hopes will be okay in time for the test match. While the fans will have their fingers crossed for that, the team has lost its fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep through a hamstring strain. He has been ruled out of the tour and will return home. Mahela Jayawardene will look to return to form under testing conditions. He has scored the most runs in bilateral series, though most of them have come in Sri Lanka.

South Africa are fresh from a 1-1 draw against Australia. That series reflected how nearly-lost matches can be won and vice versa. The team though will be hoping to avoid that and will look to the straight route of winning matches.

Pace will be a key ingredient in the starting line up and Dale Steyn has already served a warning to the opposition to expect plenty of short-pitched bowling. The same squad from previous series has been maintained which means Jacques Rudolph is likely to get another chance.

The home side has lost only one test match at the Supersport Park in Centurion. It would not be surprising to see Tillakaratne Dilshan's men struggle under the tough conditions as South Africa are hot favorites to earn an early lead in the series.

Tag :- Dale Steyn   Kumar Sangakkara   Mahela Jayawardene   South Africa   Sri Lanka