The action from South Africa's tours of Sri Lanka 2018 will be moving from the red-ball Cricket to the white-ball cricket as the two teams meet each other in the first of the five ODI matches on Sunday, July 29, 2018. The match will be held at the Rangiri International Cricket Stadium in Dambulla.
Live score:
Sri Lanka 45/5 in 10 overs
Sri Lanka won the toss and bat first.
The last time South Africa and Sri Lanka played against each other in an ODI series was back in 2016 in the Proteas' backyard. The home team had beaten the visitors by 5-0, as it didn't seem that Sri Lanka stood a chance in that series.
Even though past records favor South Africa, they would be feeling the pressure after the humiliating 2-0 loss in the test series, which got over just a week ago. With that being said, this series is expected to have some better contests, unlike the test series which was completely one-sided.
Sri Lanka XI: Upul Tharanga, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews(c), Niroshan Dickwella(w), Thisara Perera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Akila Dananjaya, Suranga Lakmal, Lakshan Sandakan, Lahiru Kumara
— Sri Lanka Cricket (@OfficialSLC) July 29, 2018
LIVE ON: https://t.co/nIX0CIkPyO #SLvSA pic.twitter.com/zRb9Do3fdi
The first ODI is scheduled to start at 9:45 AM local, which is 4:15 AM according to GMT.
Angelo Matthews returns as the captain
Angelo Matthews will come back as the in-charge of the national side after giving up captaincy last year. The Lankans are expected to play two spinners at least, considering the Proteas' weakness against spin. The team management needs to quickly select the top 3, among Upul Tharanga, Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella and Kusal Perera as the World Cup is less than a year to go.
Opener Danuskha Gunathilaka has been suspended for this series after breaching the player code of conduct recently.
South Africa is still recovering with the retirement of AB de Villiers, as they look to find a suitable replacement in the middle order. Heinrich Klaseen had suffered a niggle but he is expected to be fit for this game.
According to espncricinfo.com, Willem Mulder might find a place in the XI after his good performance in the practice game. Like the hosts, Proteas are also expected to play two spinners in Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi.
The forecast in the build-up to the match is quite pleasant with no expected rain. The pitch might be slightly batting friendly looking at the recent stats. As updated by espncricinfo.com, the track might get better for the team batting second.
Read: Highlights: Bangladesh beat West Indies by 18 runs in the 3rd ODI, wins series 2-1
Also read: Highlights: West Indies beat Zimbabwe in 2nd ODI by 3 runs, series tied 1-1
