We are at the time where Test series are beginning all over the world and on Wednesday one gets started in Durban when South Africa take on Sri Lanka in the first of just two scheduled matches over the next couple of weeks.
These two sides are both in contention to contend for the World Test Championship later in the competition so both of these matches mean a lot of the pair of them which should ensure that we get some competitive cricket here.
South Africa
South Africa come into this series in decent touch having been to Bangladesh last month and come out on top in both of the matches that were played there. They now return to home soil looking to start a big summer of action with a couple of wins here which if they get them would have them on course to compete for the World Test Championship if they can get them. In these conditions they will be a huge favourite to come out on top.
You would imagine that the South Africa bowling will have their own way in this match because Durban conditions are right up their street so if they can handle things with the bat then this is going to be their match to lose. They were completely dominant in Bangladesh so if they can bat and bowl like that here then they should be able to set up a win which will take them to a position where they have a guaranteed share of the series.
Sri Lanka
You would imagine this will be a fairly tough challenge for Sri Lanka because they haven’t had a warm up in this part of the world and so there is probably going to be a great deal of improvement in them the longer the series goes on. The one good thing they have on their side though is that they have won their last three Test matches which were against decent opponents so they have found a formula that works for them for when they are on the ball.
The key to the series from a Sri Lanka point of view is whether they can get the South Africa batting under pressure. They have a good armoury of seamers these days and if they can get into the South African order and put them under pressure it wouldn’t be the first time ever that the home side would crack were it to happen. Usually you would wonder how well Sri Lanka would go with the bat but in the main they have been fine in that department in recent times.
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Team News
South Africa have already named their starting XI for this match and they have gone in with the extra seamer in Gerald Coetzee for the match. Aiden Markram and Tony de Zorzi will open the batting with Tristan Stubbs at three.
The majority of the Sri Lanka side picks itself these days but if there is a decision to make then it could come in the form of whether to select Lahiru Kumara or Vishwa Fernando as the last seamer. The former is likely to be favoured.
Betting
I always find these first matches of a series hard to get stuck into, especially this relatively early in the season in South Africa, and so I’m not going to go too mad here but there is one bet that I am happy to play and that comes in the form of the player performance of Kamindu Mendis. There is very much a strike while the iron is hot element to this one because he has been very good for me in the last three Test matches for Sri Lanka.
His performance line is growing and here it is 83.5 but when you consider that he is currently averaging 91.27 in Test cricket at the minute there is every reason to think that it still isn’t high enough. He has played three Test matches in England in that run so while that average will drop at some point, we only need two innings of 42 from him here for this to cover and that is without the potential for scoring from catches and even a wicket. It all feels like he could easily cover here, especially now he has gone up the batting order.
Tips
Back Kamindu Mendis’ Performance – Over 83.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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