SA v SL, 3rd Test Preview: South Africa seek clean sweep as Lankans hope to save face

With Johannesburg hosting the third Test of the series and South Africa will be hoping that a clean sweep is something in effect. However, while all of this is certainly there for one and all to see, the South African Cricket Board has been rocked by a few tragic events in recent times including a bevy of players signing Kolpak deals. Kyle Abbott particularly will be missed as there is no dearth of reinforcements for the hosts.

As for Sri Lanka, they remain to be a side badly responding to the transition. Of course, one can certainly point that South Africa are playing at home and in their own conditions but the fact of the matter is that some of the cricket by the Lankan team has been quite poor. This poor cricket has also seen the Proteas defer the Sri Lankan Cricket board for future tours as well. While all of that is there to be seen, pride is the main thing one would play for in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Prelude

After having clinched series win in their last few series, the spotlight is very much on South Africa and their desire of completing a whitewash. This could also see them move up the rankings in a rather significant manner. However, as has been the case before, the Sri Lankans will be doing all they can to put an end to what has been an impressive winning streak as far as the Profess are concerned.

Also read- David Wiese latest South African to sign Kolpak deal with Sussex

The Kolpakshakeup

Abbott brought an end to an impressive run of form in Test matches by signing a Kolpak deal with English County side Hampshire. However, with many more players expected out to sign Kolpak deals in the near future, the South Africans are in a spot of bother. It has now led them towards a time when they have to dig into the reserves of the country’s domestic formats to ensure that they can get the best fixes for the gaping holes at the moment.

A team with the best Kumara

The ongoing Test series has been a bit of a disaster as far as the Lankans are concerned. Loss after loss has damaged their reputation quite heavily, to say the least. However, among the ashes, there is 19-year-old Lahiru Kumara who has been one of the standout players with the ball. His impressive performance against the Profess in the previous Test has ensured that he is seen as one for the future. He will be expected to once again link up with Suranga Lakmal in Johannesburg.

South Africa

As mentioned previously, the Proteas will be forced into a change as Kyle Abbott will be one of those who will be cutting shortening his cricketing career. However, despite all this, they boast of a massive depth when it comes to calling up reserves. As mentioned earlier, it would be Wayne Parnell who comes in with Morne Morkel also tipped with a chance. Apart from this, it is expected to be the same nucleus of the side.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka come into this fixture on the back of heavy defeats. These defeats have also seen Haroon Lorgat make statements about the way they have been performing in recent times as well. However, despite all this, Angelo Mathews would try and inspire his boys to pull up their game in the last Test of the series before action moves to the limited-overs format.

Probable XI

South Africa:

Faf du Plessis (C), Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Stephen Cook, Dean Elgar, JP Duminy, Temba Bavuma/Thenius de Bruyn, Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Wayne Parnell/Morne Morkel

Sri Lanka:

Angelo Mathews (C), Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Dhanajaya de Silva, Lahiru Kumara, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep

StAttack

1. Hashim Amla will be playing his 100th Test match in Johannesburg against Sri Lanka. He will become the seventh South Africa to complete this feat.

2. JP Duminy requires 173 runs to complete 2000 Test match runs. Similarly, Kaushal Silva requires 22 runs to complete 2000 Test runs.

3. Santana Herath requires three more maidens to complete 700 Test match maidens. He will be only the third Lankan bowler to achieve this feat after Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas.