After pulling off their remarkable win in the Test series, Sri Lanka now look to shock South Africa in a five match ODI series which gets underway on Sunday and runs for the next couple of weeks or so. South Africa will be looking to make up for their embarrassing display in the Tests so this one is nicely poised.
As we’ve been saying ahead of all the series recently, the upcoming World Cup is also adding a lot to the spectacle of these matches and we are seeing that all across the world at the minute. It should be no different here either.
Schedule
1st ODI: Mar 3 at Johannesburg
2nd ODI: Mar 6 at Centurion
3rd ODI: Mar 10 at Durban
4th ODI: Mar 13 at Port Elizabeth
5th ODI: Mar 16 at Cape Town
South Africa
There is a perception that South Africa are struggling a little bit in this format these days but they have won 12 of their last 14 bilateral series so you would have to suggest that any thoughts of that notion is nonsense. I must admit, I don’t think they are as good as they were but you have to give them credit for continually churning out the results.
I think the majority of those successes, certainly in recent times, have come through their bowling resources but in World Cup years it doesn’t really matter how you win, it is all about winning, and as their record shows, they are certainly doing plenty of that. In an ideal world they will begin to bat well and then they will become a real dangerous looking force heading into the World Cup.
Sri Lanka
It has been an extremely busy winter for Sri Lanka already with them having hosted England in an ODI series and then been to New Zealand for another. Sri Lanka have gone from being one of the best in this format of the game to one of the worst. It is coming up to three years since they last won a bilateral series in this sphere and in that time they have bombed out of the Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup.
One of the issues they have at the minute is maintaining control and pressure when they have the ball in their hands. If they can do that then their batting line up is usually good enough to be competitive, especially when their senior players deliver the goods at the top of the innings. Sri Lanka have to give Malinga some support with the ball if they are going to be competitive here you would think.
Head to Head
There have been nine previous series between these two nations with South Africa certainly having the better of the majority of them. They have come out on top six times to the twice that Sri Lanka have got their noses in front. There has also been one drawn series too. Four of those series have been in South Africa and the Proteas have won all of them.
South Africa only lead 24-17 on the match front though which suggests that the majority of the series are quite tight, or when Sri Lanka do come out on top they do it pretty emphatically. It will be interesting to see if their success in the Test series helps them here or sees them struggling more.
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Betting
This isn’t really the easiest series to bet on because both sides have had hectic periods recently so I would imagine there will be a great deal of managing players throughout the five matches. You would expect South Africa to win the series, and I would concur with that, but they are plenty short enough. I will go with one bet however.
Akila Dananjaya is available for this series and given that he has missed much of the winter while his bowling action was being assessed I’m expecting him to get all five matches here which very much makes him a leading candidate in the top Sri Lanka bowler market, especially when you factor in South Africa’s struggles against spin. Lasith Malinga is a danger of course but South Africa have played him enough now. Dananjaya at 5/2 is my bet.
Tips
Back A.Dananjaya Top Sri Lanka Series Bowler for a 2/10 stake at 3.50 with Bet365
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