Who will win South Africa vs Sri Lanka 3rd T20?
Sri Lanka won their first game of their tour to South Africa as they beat the hosts by three wickets in the second T20 international at Johannesburg. With the three-match series levelled at 1-1, the two teams will now head to the Newlands in Cape Town for the third and the deciding T20I. The match will be played on January 25 and live telecast will commence at 6 PM local time.
Toss
Newlands seems to favor the side batting second more when it comes to T20 cricket. Out of the 14 matches played at the venue, 11 have been won by the team that has batted second. Toss, therefore, will be the key here and whoever wins it on Wednesday is more likely to make the opposition bat first. The hosts have two successful chases at this ground from three matches and so we recommend betting on them if they bat second.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, odds and match prediction for South Africa vs Sri Lanka 3rd T20I...
South Africa Team News & Playing 11
Team News
AB de Villiers is set to return to international cricket after being out of action due to injury since June 2016. The prolific batsman is more likely to replace Jon-Jon Smuts who has just scored 17 from two matches.
Key Players
Returnee AB de Villiers and attacking batsman David Miller will be the biggest threats for the Sri Lankan bowlers. Both these batsmen have the ability to score runs at will and they will be doing more damage the longer they stay at the crease. Imran Tahir will have a big role to play at Newlands as the wicket is conducive to spin bowling. Tahir has nine wickets from three matches here and we predict him to make life difficult for the Sri Lankan batters.
Recent Form
South Africa have played eleven T20Is since 2016 of which they have won six and lost five. Seven of these eleven matches have been played in South Africa and the Proteas have won four of them while losing the rest. Their performance at the Newlands has not been very impressive with three wins and four defeats from seven matches.
South Africa Predicted XI
-
HG Kuhn, TB de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, M Mosehle (wk), DA Miller, F Behardien (c), WD Parnell, AL Phehlukwayo, AM Phangiso, Imran Tahir and L Ngidi.
Sri Lanka Team News & Playing 11
Team News
Regular skipper Angelo Mathews along with Nuwan Pradeep and Danushka Gunathilaka have sustained injuries and will be flying back to Sri Lanka. Dinesh Chandimal will be leading the side in the absence of Mathews.
Key Players
Stand-in skipper Dinesh Chandimal will be Sri Lanka's key player with the bat and we predict him to lead from the front on Wednesday. Niroshan Dickwella is currently leading the runs charts and the team will expect a fine contribution from him as well. Bowling will depend largely on seamer Nuwan Kulasekara who has taken four wickets from two games and spinner Lakshan Sandakan who notched up a four-wicket haul in the second T20I.
Recent Form
Sri Lanka are clearly struggling in this format of the game. Since 2016, they have won just four and lost fourteen matches. They did exceptionally well with the ball in the last game, dismissing the hosts at a meagre 113 before the 20 overs. They received a ten-wicket thrashing at the hands of Australia in their only T20I at Newlands.
Sri Lanka Predicted XI
-
N Dickwella, DM de Silva, BKG Mendis, LD Chandimal (c/wk), DAS Gunaratne, S Prasanna, Sachith Pathirana, ST de Silva, KMDN Kulasekara, PADLR Sandakan and I Udana.
South Africa vs Sri Lanka Head to Head
South Africa and Sri Lanka have now played eight T20Is with the former leading the scoreline 5-3. The hosts were pipped by the visitors in the previous game. The match went all the way down to wire with Sri Lanka emerging victorious in the end. The two teams have never met in a T20 contest at the Newlands.
South Africa vs Sri Lanka T20 Betting Odds
South Africa, despite playing below par in the second T20I, are huge favorites to win the third and the final T20I at 1.32 with 1xbet and 1.40 with bet365. This is mainly because of the return of their star batsman AB de Villiers who will be coming off the back of a century in a domestic game. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have suffered a big blow in the form of injuries to three of their important members - Mathews, Pradeep and Gunathilaka. The tourists are therefore up at 3.2 with betfair and 3.00 with bet365.
South Africa vs Sri Lanka T20 Prediction
Sri Lanka will be taking plenty of hope into the third T20I after their fighting effort in the first match and a win in the next. Their bowlers were brilliant at Johannesburg and if they are able to replicate that performance at Newlands, the visitors will be fancying their chances. Also, South Africa's ordinary T20 record at this ground will fuel more self-belief into the Sri Lankan camp. But winning against a side which will have de Villiers on their roster without their key allrounder Mathews is going to be a huge ask, which is why we predict the hosts to win this match and take the series 2-1.
Final Verdict: Back South Africa to beat Sri Lanka in the second T20I at 1.32 with 1xbet and 1.40 with bet365.
Jan 25, 2017
19:30 IST / 14:00 GMT
Newlands - Cape town, South Africa
Leave Your Comment
We do our best to give you most accurate & useful match predictions and would love to hear from you. Let us know if we need to improve. Share your own predictions for the matches. Let's talk: