World Cup 2015 QF 1 Sri Lanka vs South Africa Preview; Equally balanced teams to go against each other

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South Africa. (© Getty Images)

World Cup 2015 QF 1 Sri Lanka vs South Africa Preview; Equally balanced teams to go against each other:

Date: 18 March 2015       Time: 0900 IST
Venue: Sydney

South Africa

South Africa, one of the strongest sides in the competition made it into the knock-outs despite suffering some setbacks. They were in good form demolishing West Indies and Ireland, making 400 plus totals in consecutive matches. They did however lost to India and Pakistan during their journey. India beat them in convincing fashion, bringing their Achilles heel of pressure in action. Pakistan further pressed that nerve in that matches, putting other batsmen in pressure and winning the match by not giving AB de Villiers the support.

South Africa will face Sri Lanka in the QFs and Sri Lanka have 2 of the best tacticians in their ranks in Jayawardene and Sangakkara which will expose their raw nerve of being chokers. Sri Lanka will sue spinners to bring them under pressure. As De Villiers said, he cannot win the World Cup on his own and other batsmen will have to step up in order for South Africa to make it into the semi-finals.

South Africa can take solace in the fact that their batsmen other than AB de Villiers can be trusted to step up. Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, David Miller and Rilee Rossouw will need to take some of the pressure on themselves and help De Villiers in taking Sri Lanka on.

Bowling wise South Africa need to solve the issue of the 5th bowler, as Farhaan Behardien has not been the all-rounder they wished he could be. They might also play Wayne Parnell to counter the threat of Sangkkara who is in the purple patch of his life.

Road to quarterfinals

South Africa ( Won 4, Lost 2, Tie 0)

  1. Beat Zimbabwe by 62 runs
  2. Lost to India by 130 runs
  3. Beat West Indies by 257 runs
  4. Beat Ireland by 201 runs
  5. Lost to Pakistan by 29 runs (D/L method)
  6. Beat United Arab Emirates by 146 runs

Sri Lanka

Kumar Sangakkara is what Sri Lanka wants to keep happening to the oppositions. He has scored 4 consecutive centuries in the 6 matches he played in the group stages and will want to end his ODI career with SriLanka winning the World Cup. The other veteran Mahela Jayawardene has been quiet after making a century against Afghanistan, but don’t count him out yet. Along with Dilshan, Mathews and Perera Sri Lanka will hope to overcome the threat of South Africa who have been in good form barring some their last match against Pakistan.

Sri Lanka’s weak point is their bowling. With Herath injured and a possibility of him not playing the QFs, they don’t have any support for Lasith Malinga. Replacement spinners Prasanna and Senanayake have been in effective, while fast bowling support in LAkmal and Mathews has been okay and nothing to write home about. If they bat first, Sri Lanka will hope to put a total in excess of 350 to bring the strong African batting line-up under the kind of pressure which may make them choke, otherwise they are capable of chasing most totals.

Sri Lanka’s strongest point is their batting which has been in red hot form with Sangakkara leading the way. Dilshan has made 2 centuries and captain Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera have been in good form. Their concern is the middle order with Thirimanne and Tharanga in it and the absence of Chandimal.

They will plan on batting first and keep South Africa under constant pressure because if Sri Lanka chases, they can easily be looking at a total of 320+ under lights at the slow pitch in Adelaide.

Road to quarterfinals

Sri Lanka (Won 4, Lost 2, Tie 0)

  1. Lost to New Zealand by 98 runs
  2. Beat Afghanistan by 4 wickets
  3. Beat Bangladesh by 92 runs
  4. Beat England by 9 wickets
  5. Lost to Australia by 64 runs
  6. Beat Scotland by 148 runs

Possible Playing XI:

South Africa :  AB de Villiers (c/wk), Hashim Amla, Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien , JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn.

Sri Lanka : Angelo Mathews (C), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (WK), Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Upul Tharanga ,Thisara Perera, Sekkuge Prasanna, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara/Suranga Lakmal, Rangana Herath.

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