South Africa take on Sri Lanka in the fourth One-Day International (ODI) of the series at Newlands, Cape Town on Tuesday. South Africa have already taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in this five-match series, but Sri Lanka, who have been poor in the series so far, will look to bounce back and win the remaining two matches, starting with this one. A win in the third ODI at Johannesburg saw South Africa climb to No. 2 in the rankings. They will look to extend their winning run on Tuesday too. Sri Lanka’s batting has been their biggest worry. They have not managed to reach 200 even once in this series. Their middle-order has been fragile to say the least. There have been odd fifties from Sri Lanka batsmen, but none have managed to convert that into something substantial. Full Cricket Scorecard: South Africa vs Sri Lanka 4th ODI at Cape Town
In the previous game, Sri Lanka openers Niroshan Dickwella and skipper Upul Tharanga did give Sri Lanka a good start. But from 60 for no loss, they collapsed to a mere 163. South Africa faced little trouble in chasing it down. Even Sri Lanka’s bowling has been bit of a worry. They have picked up just 11 wickets in the three matches so far, with Suranga Lakmal and Lakshan Sandakan leading the way with two wickets apiece. Sri Lanka did try a couple of fresh players in Lahiru Kumara and Lahiru Madhushanka in the third ODI, but their batsmen did not put enough runs on the board for their bowlers to have chance of defending.
The form of Dinesh Chandimal is a big worry for Sri Lanka. He is yet to fire on this entire tour. He is yet to score a fifty on this tour across formats and Sri Lanka will want him to fire in this match. He is one of their most experienced players and a good show from him will surely lift the rest of the team. Sri Lanka are certainly missing their regular captain Angelo Mathews, who is set for a long lay-off once again.
For South Africa, winning this match is a step closer to ensure that they overtake Australia at the top of the ICC rankings. A 5-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka will take them to the summit of the rankings. But despite a good performance, they cannot afford to take Sri Lanka lightly. With nothing to lose, Sri Lanka might come all guns blazing at Newlands and could give South Africa a scare.
Dwaine Pretorius’ Man of the Match winning performance of 3 for 19 all but secures his place in the side. If that is the case, all-rounders Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell will be fighting for one spot. Parnell missed out in the third ODI, leaving Morris to open the bowling. He did a good job and is most likely to get the nod ahead of Parnell in this match as well. South Africa do not have much firepower after their No. 5 batsman JP Duminy. But the problem is, Sri Lanka have struggled to go beyond them in the series, which is one of the many reasons for their poor show.
If the likes of Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy get back in the hut without doing much damage, the rest to follow are vulnerable. But their batsmen too have to play their part and put up a good total on the board.
It is expected to be a batting friendly wicket at Newlands and team winning the toss is most likely to make use of the conditions early and elect to bat. While Sri Lanka have nothing but pride to play for, South Africa on the other hand will have the No. 1 ODI spot at the back of their minds, when the take field.
Squads:
South Africa: AB de Villiers (c), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi
Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga (c), Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Chaturanga de Silva, , Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Asela Gunaratne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Madushanka, Kusal Mendis, Sachith Pathirana, Lakshan Sandakan, Sandun Weerakkody, Lahiru Kumara, Vikum Sanjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay
TIME: 13.30 Local | 17.00 IST | 11.30 GMT