Who Will Win South Africa vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test?
Sri Lanka recorded a resounding 278-run win in the opening test at Galle to go 1-0 up in the two-game series. South Africa will now look to put that heavy defeat behind them and bounce back to square the series 1-1 when they take on the hosts in the second and final test match to be played from July 20 at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Live telecast is scheduled to begin at 10 AM local time each day.
SL vs SA 2nd Test: Where to Watch/Live Streaming
TV channels: Sony Six, Fox Sports, SuperSport, Sky Sports Cricket
Live Streaming: SonyLIV, Bet365, SuperSport Live, Now TV
Toss Prediction
Five of the last six test matches (only those that have produced results) played at the Sinhalese Sports Club have been won by the side batting first. And with the wicket expected to deteriorate after the third day's play, neither team would want to bat fourth here. So the toss-winning team is likely to bat first in this match.
Read on for team previews, betting odds, betting tips and match prediction for SL vs SA 2nd Test...
Sri Lanka Team News & Playing 11
SL Team News
Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal has been handed a two-test suspension by the ICC for his role in the ball-tampering episode in the second test against the West Indies in St. Lucia. This means that Chandimal will be sitting out of this match as well and so Dimuth Karunaratne will once again open the batting alongside Danushka Gunathilaka. After that emphatic win at Galle, Sri Lanka will be tempted to retain the entire group of eleven for this second test.
SL Key Players
Dimuth Karunaratne was the highlight of Sri Lanka's batting in the Galle test and he will be the key man at the top. The opening batsman was in prolific form with scores of 158* and 60 in the respective innings. Angelo Mathews has scored the most test runs for the side at this venue from the current squad and he is a vital cog in the middle order. Dhananjaya de Silva has a century and a fifty from two matches here.
Sri Lanka will turn to the likes of Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath and Lakshan Sandakan to do the job with the ball. Perera took a match haul of ten wickets and the South African batsmen could once again find it difficult to read the off-spinner. Herath has 77 wickets in 13 matches at this ground and he too is likely to finish with impressive figures in this match.
SL Recent Form
Sri Lanka have lost just one out of the six test matches they have played this year. They won a two-match series 1-1 in Bangladesh in February, then drew a three-match series 1-1 against the West Indies before coming into this home series against South Africa. They were absolutely brilliant with the ball in the opening test of the ongoing series, dismissing the visiting side twice for just 199 runs.
Sri Lanka Predicted Playing 11
Danushka Gunathilaka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal (c), Lakshan Sandakan
South Africa Team News & Playing 11
SA Team News
Left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi has returned home from Sri Lanka citing family reasons which could pave the way for uncapped bowling allrounder Shaun von Berg in making his test debut. The leg-spinner has 345 wickets in 96 first-class matches and his batting ability will also add some strength in South Africa's lower order. No further changes are expected in their line-up for this match.
SA Key Players
All the South African batsmen failed miserably against the Sri Lankan spinners in the first match. Faf du Plessis, however, top-scored with 49 in the first innings and the team will have a lot of expectations from the skipper heading into this game. Hashim Amla is one of the leading run-getters for South Africa in the longest format and he will have to bring all of his experience into play. Dean Elgar scored just 12 runs in the match and the team will need him to bounce back with a strong performance.
Kagiso Rabada picked up four wickets in the first innings and three in the second and he will be South Africa's best bet to provide the early breakthroughs with the new ball. Dale Steyn is the highest wicket-taker for the side in tests with 421 wickets in 87 matches. Keshav Maharaj claimed a four-fer in the second innings and he will be the skipper's go-to man in the absence of Tabraiz Shamsi.
SA Recent Form
South Africa have been fairly impressive in the longest format of late, winning five and losing three out of the eight test matches they have played this year. They beat India 2-1 at home in January and then thrashed Australia 3-1 in another home series before suffering a massive 278-run defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka at Galle. The tourists will be extremely disappointed with their batting performance in the last game where they got rolled over for just 73 in the second innings - their lowest ever test score since readmission.
South Africa Predicted Playing 11
Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Shaun von Berg, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn
Jul 20 - Jul 23, 2018
10:00 IST / 4:30 GMT
Sinhalese Sports Club - Colombo, Sri Lanka
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: