World T20 Preview: South Africa v Sri Lanka

Omnisports

March 27, 2016 1:45 AM

South Africa and Sri Lanka will round off their disappointing World Twenty20 games against each other in Delhi on Monday.

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South Africa and Sri Lanka will round off their disappointing World Twenty20 campaigns against each other in Delhi on Monday.

The final fixture of the Super 10 stage has nothing riding on it after both sides were beaten by England and West Indies in Group 1.

Much changed in recent years, deposed reigning WT20 champions Sri Lanka have played 10 matches in the shortest format against full ICC members in 2016, winning only one.

Failure in an international tournament is nothing new for South Africa, whose wait for a trophy will now extend beyond 18 years.

MATHEWS PREACHES CONSISTENCY

Named captain after Lasith Malinga withdrew mid-tournament, Mathews does not believe that a Sri Lanka side still reeling from the retirements of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara needs to be disrupted further.

He said after the England defeat: "All we can do is stick to the combination, not try and change the team too much. Hasty decisions will not solve this matter, so we have got to try and be patient.

"Try to pick about 20 players and, you know, re-evaluate then after six months, give them the opportunity to settle down and then try and see what they have come up with in term of performances."

FAF IS A FIGHTER

Faf du Plessis was ultimately let down by his batsmen, a costly failure to fire against West Indies ending their hopes of progression, but he does not doubt the Proteas' big-game potential.

"The difference in getting across the line in big games is when big players step up," Du Plessis said.

"I am a fighter and I know we've got a lot of fighters in our team. We are playing for South Africa, we are wearing the Protea badge."

KEY OPTA STATS

- Sri Lanka have lost five of their last six T20I matches coming into this match; all of those games taking place in Asia (W1). - JP Duminy recorded his best ever T20I bowling figures against Sri Lanka (3/18, Aug 2013). - Hashim Amla is 48 runs shy of becoming the fourth batsman to reach 1,000 in T20Is for South Africa.

Omnisports

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