South Africa picked up their first win on their tour of Sri Lanka in the opening ODI on Sunday and they will be looking to take a real stranglehold on the series when the two sides meet in Dambulla again on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka will have been disappointed with their performance on Sunday but they have the chance to put that right here and if they can do that they will level up the series with three matches to come over the next week.
Sri Lanka
Having dominated the Test matches, Sri Lanka will have been mightily disappointed with their effort in the opening ODI. They were pretty much beaten inside the opening 10 overs of the contest and that will be the thing that annoys them the most. Losing can be accepted at times but when you never give yourselves a chance in a match it is tough to take.
It sounds like the home side had a solid enough plan in that first game of the series but they just didn’t execute it well enough. They will really need their batsmen to stand up and be counted here because I think we saw in the first ODI that this is going to be a tough test for their bowlers over the next couple of weeks.
South Africa
If ever a side needed a performance in the opening ODI it was South Africa so we should give them credit that they were able to come up with it under pressure. There were plenty of questions for them to answer heading into the match. Could they play in these conditions? Can they win matches without AB de Villiers? We now know the answer to both questions is yes.
South Africa’s bowlers came to the party once again in the first game of the series but they won it with confidence with the bat and that could be a vital thing as we head into the meat of the contest from here on in. The Proteas will be hoping for a performance in the same vein as the one they produced on Sunday. That could be enough here.
Team News
Sri Lanka are set to be without quick bowler Lahiru Kumara who split a webbing on his hand in training in the lead up to this match. Kasun Rajitha is one man who could be in line to replace the seamer.
Heinrich Klaasen did not recover from illness in time for the first match but he is fit now although he is expected to remain on the sidelines as South Africa field an unchanged side from the one which won on Sunday.
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Betting
We are starting to get a picture of how this series will play out and on Wednesday that should become even clearer. I think South Africa are likely winners at this match but I would just like to see a second good performance from them before I fully trust them.
With that in mind I’m not changing anything from the first game betting wise. I took the performance of Tabraiz Shamsi in that match and with the line not changing from 27.5 despite the fact he took four wickets and a catch, I’m more than happy to get involved again. As I said on Sunday a couple of wickets or a caught and bowled are well within range so I’m happy to indulge the over here.
Tips
Back T.Shamsi’s Performance – Over 27.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Bet365
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