 South Africa will play Sri Lanka in the second Test match of the series
to be held at the Kingsmead in Durban. The match will begin from December 26 and
will see the South Africans go into the game armed with a 1-0 lead.
It was a rout in the first Test match. Sri Lanka struggled to bat, as has been
their problem all these months since the taking over of captaincy by T Dilshan.
They were bowled out for 180 in their first innings and then went one worse when
they scored only 150 in their second innings, losing by an innings and 81 runs.
Click for Live Score Card of South Africa Vs Sri Lanka
South Africa did have their hiccups while batting but still managed a score
of 411, which meant that they were far ahead of their opponents throughout the
game. There were half-centuries from many of them, including AB de Villiers,
who was unlucky to miss out on a 100 by a single run. Mark Boucher scored
65 and that meant that the early loss of wickets on the second day of the Test
match was overcome by the South African batsmen with much ease.
On those hard and bouncy tracks of South Africa, Dilhara Fernanado did
a good job in the innings that he bowled but he had no support from the other
end which was the undoing for the Lankan bowlers.
Sri Lanka need a better start than they have been getting so far. This means that
they either need to change their opening pair or need something better from them.
Dilshan has been out of form for some time now and he needs to bat lower down
the order instead of trying to keep getting out the same manner as he has so far.
There were talks of including Dinesh Chandimal but it needs to be seen how
will that happen. Chances are that Angelo Mathews or Mahela Jayawardene
will be dropped to fit in the youngster.
The bowling could remain the same or Ajantha Mendis may be called upon
to replace a pace bowler.
The issue is that the Kingsmead in Durban will have a hard pitch that should bounce
more than expected and that will make selection of a second spinner a difficult
job for the Lankan side.
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