Captain Faf du Plessis has been ruled out for rest of the tour, as South Africa face Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele, Kandy on Wednesday, August 8, 2018.
Live updates:
Toss to take place at 2 PM local time.
The match will start at 2:30 PM Local, 9:00 AM GMT.
South Africa is leading the five-match ODI series 3-0 and has a tremendous record against Sri Lanka in the last 10 ODI matches, having won all of them. On the other hand, Sri Lanka would be looking to avoid another series whitewash having suffered two already in the last 12 months.
Sri Lanka has two options basically, either they can try some reserves to test their bench or simply play the best XI and try to get some momentum before the Asia Cup next month. It is likely that their think tank will be going with the latter option. The hosts will try to correct their usual mistakes in this format as a tough year of cricket awaits them.
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
De Kock to be the stand-in captain
South Africa's regular captain Faf de Plessis got injured in the last previous game, and hence Quinton de Kock has been named as his replacement for the last two ODIs.
The South African side has ticked all boxes in this series so far and the fact that debutant Reeza Hendricks got a century in the previous match would be a massive boost for their side.
Cricbuzz stated in a report that Aiden Markram will probably come back into the XI in the absence of du Plessis. The Proteas side might still try Keshav Maharaj or some other bowler as they have already won the series 3-0 with two games to go.
WATCH: 3rd ODI Highlights - Sri Lanka vs South Africa at Pallekele - https://t.co/WaEuAPv6mK #SLvSA
— Sri Lanka Cricket (@OfficialSLC) August 5, 2018
The pitch in Pallekele would be similar to the one in the third ODI. Scoring runs would be easy, but ESPNCrinifo states that the ball might zip around a bit under the floodlights.
The forecast in Kandy predicts some rain during the afternoon, which might interrupt the play for some time.
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also read: Highlights: South Africa beats Sri Lanka in 3rd ODI by 78 runs, 11th time in a row
