Sri Lanka
South Africa
Match scheduled to begin at 15:30 local time (10:00 GMT)
Current time: 14:25 local, 08:55 GMT | Match begins in: 1:05

Sri Lanka squad
DPMD Jayawardene*, AD Mathews, LD Chandimal†, TM Dilshan, RMS Eranga, HMRKB Herath, KMDN Kulasekara, SL Malinga, BAW Mendis, BMAJ Mendis, EMDY Munaweera, MKPAD Perera, NLTC Perera, KC Sangakkara†, HDRL Thirimanne
South Africa squad
AB de Villiers*†, HM Amla, F Behardien, J Botha, JP Duminy, F du Plessis, JH Kallis, RE Levi, JA Morkel, M Morkel, JL Ontong, WD Parnell, RJ Peterson, DW Steyn, LL Tsotsobe

SA not intimidated by spin factor

If cricket was science fiction, contests between Sri Lanka and South Africa might be characterised as tussles between Ewoks and Vulcans.

One side is almost cute. Their emphasis on the “Sri Lankan brand of cricket” is fuzzy, and their insistence on allowing bowlers to be themselves no matter how strange, is charmingly different. South Africa meanwhile are efficiency personified. There is little room for sentiment in their outfit and it is all the more formidable because of it. They have developed some of the best players in the world, and know the science of getting everything out of them.

This difference in philosophies is made all the more stark by the teams’ varying strengths. Sri Lanka’s attack is dripping with x-factor, but there is also brittleness about it. South Africa’s bowlers however, are precise and consistent. Sri Lanka revel in spin, whether producing it or playing it, but South Africa are masters of pace, seam and bounce; a brutal art for a dauntless team.

Saturday’s encounter between two of the tournament favourites might be a case of who can exploit the other’s weakness better. Ajantha Mendis and Jeevan Mendis shared nine Zimbabwe wickets between them, in Sri Lanka’s 84-run drubbing of Zimbabwe, then South Africa’s pace quartet reaped eight scalps from the same team two nights later. Mahela Jayawardene alluded to South Africa’s perceived weakness against spin when he cited their “inexperienced middle order” ahead of the match, and Sri Lanka’s troubles against quality pace bowling are well known – even if they have improved in that regard lately.

South Africa are aware they will have to play Ajantha Mendis on the same surface he took a world record 6 for 8 only four days ago, but captain AB de Villiers said his side know plenty about him and are far from intimidated.

“A guy like Mendis is a world class bowler and when he’s going well he will always pick up wickets,” he said. “But we’ve seen him perform under pressure and seen him break down under pressure as well. So hopefully, we can get the upper hand against him and not let him bowl to us.”

The pitch will play a significant role. The surface on which South Africa demolished Zimbabwe was perhaps the liveliest of the tournament so far, but the strip that will be used on Saturday also had plenty in it for the seamers.

“I was expecting the pitch to bounce a bit, but not as much as it did against Zimbabwe. I was surprised that pitch didn’t really take turn. I’m certainly expecting it to turn a bit more when we play Sri Lanka.”

Both teams are through to Super Eights, which means the result of this game only becomes relevant in the event of a tie at the end of the next phase. Each captain conceded they will be tempted to test out their bench strength for the effective dead rubber, but de Villiers stressed that it was more than just a warm up for the matches to come.

“I don’t think there will be any drop in intensity for the Sri Lanka game,” de Villiers said. “We’re in the beginning stages of a very, very big event, a tournament that we really want to win. You have to play well in every game and improve in every game. Sri Lanka are the home team and we’re probably underdogs. We’ll try and gain some momentum out of the game.”

Sri Lanka may also like to give Akila Dananjaya a chance to prove his talent at international level. If he plays alongside Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka’s attack will be a showcase of the weird. The Ewoks will hope to hoodwink their opponents into crashing their hovercraft into trees, but if the Vulcans have their way, the script will be clean and predictable but no less impressive.

Andrew Fernando is ESPNcricinfo’s correspondent in Sri Lanka

 

Tough trial awaits Munaweera

One game into the World Twenty20, it is clear Sri Lanka have invested a great deal in Dilshan Munaweera. The team has split up a successful opening pair, moving their best batsman Mahela Jayawardene to a less favoured batting position to accommodate Munaweera in his familiar spot. It would have been easy for the seniors to pull rank and ask Munaweera to inject energy into a middle order carrying two accumulators, but they’ve been careful to make his international baptism a gentle one. Largesse towards youngsters has been a hallmark of a side that understand the leap Sri Lanka players must make when they move from the local circuit to international cricket.

 

It also emphasises Munaweera’s importance to Sri Lanka’s campaign. Dinesh Chandimal waits on the sidelines to replace the first batsman to falter, but if he joins a lineup already looking short of firepower, Sri Lanka’s finishers may have to work even harder towards the close. With one of the most aggressive top threes in the tournament, Sri Lanka have banked on sustained hitting during the Powerplay, and Munaweera must play his part for the strategy to prove worthwhile.

 

Saturday’s match shapes as the biggest test of Munaweera’s career. Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel have bloodied more hardened men than he, and a nervous start to international cricket and an awkward first dismissal cannot have boosted Munaweera’s confidence greatly. Moreover, South Africa will have studied him closely in their team meetings. They will know he is, at present, over-reliant on boundaries to make a score. They will know he cuts and pulls well but drives poorly. They will endeavour to keep him on strike, knowing he has trouble rotating it, and the customary dose of newbie-abuse will no doubt be gleefully given as well.

 

“It’s always going to be tough, especially when you’re an opening batsman,” captain Mahela Jayawardene said of the trial awaiting Munaweera. “It’s a great experience for him to play one of the two best bowling combinations in the game right now. He has Dilshan at the other end to guide him and a couple of other senior batsmen to follow.”

 

Not only will Munaweera’s mettle be tested by bowlers much faster and capable of generating more bounce than he has encountered at home and on A-team tours, he will also be playing on a foreign surface. The Bloomfield Cricket Club pitch he has thrived on has a reputation for being low and slow. Both pitches in Hambantota so far have had plenty of bounce and carry, and South Africa’s seamers will squeeze every inch of movement available as well.

 

It is perhaps unfair to expect Munaweera to pass the test with flying colours, given his inexperience and the gulf between domestic and top-level cricket he must learn to bridge in the next few weeks. A young Mahela Jayawardene was among the most complete batsmen Sri Lanka’s system ever produced, and even he was forced to make drastic improvements in his early years to compete against the finest.

 

“For me Wasim Akram was the guy I struggled against early on because of his quality and variations,” Jayawardene said. “Every time I played against him early I struggled early on. Every time after the game he would pat me on my back and say keep learning, and that’s what I did. It was a good experience for me. I was one of the victims of his hat-trick early on. After 12 years of international cricket he started getting hat-tricks against Sri Lanka. It was tough playing him.”

 

One of Sri Lanka’s biggest selection regrets has been the meandering career of Chamara Kapugedara. No one can doubt the batsman’s talent, having seen it in spades in domestic cricket as well as in patches for the national team, but perhaps his failure to grow into a match-winner was hampered by inconsistency in selection and a tendency to bat him out of position. So far Munaweera far has avoided that fate.

 

“The good thing is that he’s got a free hand. When you have a youngster coming into the set-up, there’s not much pressure on you. You just go out there and enjoy yourself and back yourself to play your game. That’s what is exciting about young cricketers coming in. We’re just going to give him the license to go out there and enjoy himself.”

 

A poor outing against South Africa’s pace may not warrant Munaweera’s exclusion at the Super Eights stage, but it may earn a him a reputation for being a soft target. He will be watched, analysed, and attacks will formulate plans specifically for him in the coming weeks. It is a different world of pressure at the top, and Munaweera will get a healthy taste of that on Saturday. How he responds in that game and the matches to follow may not shape his career, but having provided Munaweera with the best chance to succeed, Sri Lanka will hope their investment pays off.

Andrew Fernando is ESPNcricinfo’s correspondent in Sri Lanka

2.25 pm Good afternoon and welcome to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball coverage of the final group C match, between Sri Lanka and South Africa in Hambantota. Both teams have progressed to the Super Eights, after thumping Zimbabwe, and the result of this match will not affect which group the teams are in during the next round either.

Now for the not-so-good news. It’s been raining in Hambantota and the square is covered. The forecast isn’t too good and the start could be delayed. This is disappointing news, and not just because I have six players from South Africa and Sri Lanka in my Fantasy team. Note to self, make transfers only after checking the weather report.