Johannesburg turns pink in support of breast cancer on Saturday and after taking another brutal beating in Durban on Wednesday, Sri Lanka head there for the third ODI with South Africa knowing they have to win or they would have lost the series with two matches still to play.
South Africa are starting to look formidable once again and they will be looking to seal the series with a couple of matches to spare so that they can get some game time into those who need it ahead of their tour of New Zealand.
South Africa
Two commanding batting performances have got South Africa in a position where they are one win away from winning the series with three chances to do it in. The best part about that from their point of view is they have got into this position without much of a contribution from AB de Villiers and it would be a big surprise were he to go five matches without anything of significance.
The other reason why their position is so strong is because their bowling attack have had the wood over the Sri Lankans and that is without Kagiso Radaba making a genuine contribution. Just like with his captain it is hard to envisage him going the series without making a big impact on it.
Sri Lanka
I accept there is an eye for the future with this Sri Lanka side and after the high profile retirements they have suffered in the last 24 months that is completely understandable but they do still have experienced players around for this series who need to be contributing more than they have in the opening two matches.
While the experienced players need to deliver more they could do with one of the youngsters they have brought into the side to show that they belong at this level too else this could be a very long three matches for them. One crumb of comfort is that their bowlers have stuck to their plans and contained South Africa as much as they could.
Team News
South Africa will be forced into a change for this match. A finger injury has ruled David Miller out of the rest of the series. Ferhaan Behardien is the likely replacement in an otherwise unchanged side.
Sri Lanka have been all over the place in terms of team selection and order in this series so far so second guessing their side is never easy. There may be no point in holding Lahiru Kamara back any longer.
Wanderers Stadium
This will be the 45th ODI to be held at this brilliant ground. South Africa have a pretty emphatic record here you would have to say. They have 23 wins and eight losses from 31 matches and have never lost a pink ODI. Sri Lanka are 2-5 on this ground.
As ever this ground is at altitude so the ball will fly off the bat here. We know the ground is tiny and the wicket is meant to be good for batting this time too so everything points towards a high scoring match.
Betting
The match market has got a little out of hand now. South Africa are perfectly worthy favourites but they are very short now and there hasn’t been enough from Sri Lanka in the series so far to merit taking them at any price really. That means we head to the side markets for a bet here.
The first market is one I took in the previous match which is South Africa and their first 10 over score. I took 53.5 in Durban and the line has gone up to 57.5 here but when you think how the ball flies here and how small this ground is I don’t expect that to be enough of an increase. South Africa were 62-1 after 10 overs in Durban and I’m expecting them to be at least that here.
AB de Villiers is a decent player anywhere in the world but his record here is particularly sick. He averages a ridiculous 92.28 from 10 ODIs on this ground and three of his last five innings have been centuries. He has hit a six in each of those five innings and the 5/6 he hits another here is a silly price. Not many grounds are big enough to contain the South African great. This one certainly isn’t so I’ll have a piece of that.
Tips
Back South Africa 1st 10 overs – Over 57.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Coral
Back AB de Villiers Over 0.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Coral
Back them here:
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