After bouncing back from defeat in their opening match South Africa start as firm favourites to strengthen their hand in T20 World Cup Group 1 when they take on Sri Lanka in Sharjah on Saturday.
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
South Africa
After losing their opening game to Australia by 5 wickets the Proteas were under pressure heading into Tuesday's clash with West Indies in Dubai. The saga involving Quinton de Kock's stance on taking the knee wouldn't have helped either but the team responded with a comfortable 8 wicket win. Although West Indies put on 73 for their first wicket the Proteas bowlers kept things tight and wickets began to fall with the innings eventually closing on 143/8. Nortje (1/14) was miserly and his bowling earned a Man of the Match award whilst Pretorius took 3 wickets in 2 overs and Maharaj finished with 2/24.
Bavuma fell in the first over of the chase but Hendricks (39), van der Dussen (43 not out) and Aiden Markram (51 not out) got the Proteas home in 18.2 overs.
This was how South Africa lined up last time out although note the dispute with Quinton de Kock appears to be over so he could well return.
Temba Bavuma (c), Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
With games against Bangladesh and then England still to come in this group the Proteas odds to win the tournament are now 14/1 and they are 11/2 to reach the final.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka came up against Australia in Dubai on Thursday, they were beaten by 7 wickets and now have 1 win and 1 defeat against their name. Sri Lanka posted 154/6 batting first against the Aussies with Asalanka and Kusal Perera top scoring with 35. Although Hasaranga claimed 2 of the 3 Australian wickets to fall the result was evident from some way out and the chase was completed in 17 overs.
After coming through the qualifiers with a 100% record Sri Lanka came up against Bangladesh in their opening match and they came out on top by 5 wickets. Bangladesh posted 171/4 in their 20 overs and Asalanka (80 and Man of the Match) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (53) were largely responsible for seeing Sri Lanka get home in 18.5 overs.
In the outright betting to win the tournament Sri Lanka are trading at around 66/1
This was how Sri Lanka lined up last time out
Kusal Perera (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Wanindu Hasaranga, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana
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Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 16 times with South Africa winning 10 to Sri Lanka's 5 with 1 tie.
The most recent meetings came as recently as September in Colombo when South Africa completed a 3-0 clean sweep of the series with wins by 28 runs, 9 wickets and 10 wickets.
The Proteas have won each of the last 5 T20 match ups with Sri Lanka.
The Betting
South Africa are currently trading at around 5/10 to win the game and Sri Lanka can be backed at around 16/10
South Africa are 7/10 to hit the most 6's with Sri Lanka 15/10 and a tie is 13/2
The highest first 6 overs total market has South Africa at 7/10 and Sri Lanka are 11/10
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
We have some recent head to head form to work with although much has happened in recent months since the Proteas dominated in Colombo where Quinton de Kock scored 153 runs in 3 matches and Reeza Hendricks scored 112. Still, the Proteas should get the job done although to me they represent little value in the match result betting.
The top Sri Lankan bat market is of interest and Asalanka is in decent form right now and gets my vote.
Assuming de Kock returns for the Proteas the top SA bat market looks competitive with Hendricks and van der Dussen and Markram also worthy of support. Given his form against Sri Lanka I will go with Quinton de Kock but this time in the Man of the Match market where the price is more attractive for a small stake.
Bets: Top Sri Lanka Bat Asalanka at 33/10
Man of the Match Quinton de Kock at 7/1
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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