SriLankaT20WCA betting preview of the T20 World Cup match between South Africa and Sri Lanka including top run scorer and wicket taker tips courtesy of @Olimp_SA

 

 

 

South Africa vs. Sri Lanka, T20 World Cup, Saturday 30 October 12:00

 

The Proteas take on Sri Lanka at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday in their third clash of the ICC T20 World Cup with both sides needing a win to keep their hopes of making the playoffs alive. Can our boys focus on the task at hand or will all the midweek drama in the media affect their game and cause them to miss out on a semi-final spot?

 

South Africa

 

South Africa sit in third place in Group 1 with two points after two matches. In their opening match they lost to Australia by five wickets, but they managed to bounce back against the West Indies in Dubai with an eight wicket victory on Tuesday. The road to the semi-finals is a tough one for the Proteas where they still need to face Bangladesh and England in the upcoming week and nothing less than three wins will get them there. With Australia and England already sitting on four points each and facing off in the other match on Saturday it’s almost certain that the winner of that match will qualify for the semi-finals. The best South Africa can hope for is to somehow slip in through the backdoor by winning the remainder of their matches.

 

In Dubai South Africa won the toss and sent the West Indians in to bat first. Captain Bavuma’s decision to field looked like a poor one and after the first ten overs the first wicket had still not fallen. However, the bowlers did manage to restrict the Windies to around seven per over in the first half of the innings which was positive and the breakthrough did eventually come in the tenth over through the spin bowling of Keshav Maharaj. He struck again a couple of overs, while Kagiso Rabada added a wicket an over later and suddenly the West Indies went from 73/0 to 89/3. Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard managed to add some quick runs before both were dismissed by Dwayne Pretorious who ended up being the top bowler for South Africa in the innings with three wickets. The Windies would go on to post a total of 143/8 in their 20 overs.

 

The run chase would prove to be a relatively simple one for South Africa despite the early dismissal of Bavuma which left them sitting at 4/1 at the end of the first over. Reeza Hendricks made a solid contribution of 39 runs at number two before being dismissed in the tenth over, while Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram added 43 and 51 respectively and comfortably chased down their target in 18 overs.

 

Sri Lanka

 

After two matches Sri Lanka sit in fourth place in Group 1 and are in a similar predicament to South Africa where any further losses will see them miss out on a semi-final spot. After a great start to the tournament which saw them defeating Bangladesh by five wickets, their ICC T20 World Cup campaign was dealt a major blow when they lost to Australia by 5 wickets in Dubai on Thursday evening.

 

On Thursday Sri Lanka were sent in to bat by the Australians and got off to a shaky start with Pathum Nissanka dismissed in the third over for just seven runs. Things improved briefly for the Sri Lankans thanks to two good knocks by Kusal Perera and Charith Asalanka who got 35 runs each and took the Lions to 86/3 halfway through the innings. Bhanuka Rajapaksa would contribute 33 runs at number six, but disappointingly for Sri Lanka there would be no other major contributions and they would only manage 154/6 in their 20 overs – well short of the par score for the Dubai track.

 

Defending their low target was not an easy task and the Lions struggled to get a breakthrough until the end of the seventh over. Wanindu Hasaranga was able dismiss Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell, but it was a little too late and the damage had already been done early on with an opening partnership of 70 runs by Aaron Finch and David Warner. Dasun Shanaka was able to eventually dismiss danger man Warner in the 15th over but at that stage Australia only needed a further 25 runs which they easily chased down without losing another wicket.

 

Prediction

 

Although Sri Lanka won at this same venue against Bangladesh in their opening game I don’t see them winning this time around against South Africa. Right now their top order batting is impressive, but unfortunately there isn’t much else on offer and once the openers are gone they struggle to post a competitive total. The Sharjah pitch has been favouring the seamers in the tournament so far and I can see the likes of Rabada, Nortje and Ngidi tearing through the Sri Lankan top order with relative ease.

 

I don’t see much danger in Sri Lanka’s bowling attack with the exception of Wahindu Wasaranga, but with this pitch favouring the fast bowlers I don’t think he will make much of an impact in the match. Chamika Karunaratne looks like the most likely candidate for the top Sri Lankan bowler based on his performance against Bangladesh, but I don’t say this with much confidence. I believe the return of Quinton de Kock is going to have a massive impact on the Proteas’ batting and after all the controversy during the week I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes a big statement with a massive innings for his side.

 

BetOlimp Best Bets

 

Top Home Bowler: Lundi Ngidi – 4.50
Top Away Bowler: Chamika Karunaratne – 5.50
Top Home Batsman: Quinton de Kock – 3.40

 

Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change

 

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