Sri Lanka vs South Africa: Preview and Prediction

The fourth match of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup will take place between South Africa and 2014 T20 World Cup winners Sri Lanka at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Monday at 8 PM IST.

Wanindu Hasaranga, who was recently appointed as the captain of Sri Lanka, will take on his first major assignment with a team that checks all the boxes.

On the other hand, South Africa has assembled a formidable team, making them possibly the strongest team in Group D. Still, there will be pressure as the Proteas aim to play in a Men’s T20 World Cup final for the first time.

What has happened so far?

The Lions toured Bangladesh and played a three-match T20I series, in which the visitors performed brilliantly and won the series 2-1. 

Kusal Mendis had a great series as he amassed 181 runs with a staggering strike rate of 160.18. Their bowlers also performed well in the series, especially Nuwan Thushara, who clinched a five-wicket haul in the last T20I to seal the series for Sri Lanka.

The Lions are having a tough time adjusting to the pitches in the USA as they succumbed to a 20-run defeat against the Netherlands before bouncing back with a 41-run win against Ireland.

The South African team had recently toured to the West Indies for a three-match T20I series, and the hosts completely outplayed the Proteas registering a 3-0 clean sweep.

Rassie van der Dussen-led side failed to perform with the bat as none of their batters, apart from Reeza Hendricks were able to cross the 100-run mark in the series. The Proteas will be looking to learn from their mistakes in this series before heading into the marquee event.

Head to Head Record

There have been 17 T20 encounters between Sri Lanka and South Africa. Twelve of these 17 games have been won by South Africa, while only five have been won by Sri Lanka.

Both teams have competed in four games of the ICC T20 World Cup so far, with the Proteas winning three out of them while Sri Lanka managed to win only one encounter. The last time when these two teams faced off in the shortest format of the game was during the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup and the battle was won by South Africa by four wickets.

Key Players

Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka): Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga, is the most important player for his side as he has the skills necessary to lead the Lankans and perform successfully. 

With 104 wickets in T20Is, Hasaranga is Sri Lanka’s most successful spinner and the right-arm spinner’s four overs during every match will prove to be crucial for the Lions’ campaign. The wrist-spinner is very handy with the bat as well and after giving IPL 2024 a miss, the utility player would be well-rested to perform at his best for his nation.

Heinrich Klaasen (South Africa): Since the beginning of the year, the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen has been playing at his best. Klaasen has scored 76 maximums in 30 T20 outings across all leagues.

Klaasen offers flexibility to the rest of the side as he can keep wickets as well apart from attacking the spin bowlers at a strike rate of around 160 in T20s. His performances in the IPL and SA20 this year have demonstrated that he is a wonderful fit for the role of an explosive middle-order batter.

Predicted XIs

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga © , Maheesh Theekshana, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana 

South Africa: Reeza Hendricks, Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram © , Heinrich Klassen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Anrich Nortje

Prediction

Both teams will be looking to get off to a positive start for their respective campaigns. Though South Africa has the upper hand in the head-to-head record, they are coming into this game after losing their last T20I series by 3-0. 

On the other hand, Sri Lanka won their last series and would be hoping to continue their winning momentum. So all things considered, a great game of cricket between these two teams is expected on Monday evening.