SA vs SL 2024/25, SA vs SL 2nd Test Match Preview

The big picture: Can Sri Lanka avoid another collapse?

The headlines are that both teams are trying to make it to the World Test Championship final, but neither has sealed a spot. Unfortunately for South Africa, the WTC points system doesn’t reward huge winning margins, so even though they beat Sri Lanka by 233 runs in Durban, it still counts as just a modest win.

Nevertheless, they have reached Gqebarha full of confidence. Another win here, and their path to the final is largely cleared. Meanwhile, a win for Sri Lanka would mean they have a chance to qualify for the finals regardless of other results. (They will also have to win the match against Australia 2-0.)

However, their first goal is to be more competitive than Durban. Their batsmen, especially, cannot allow another collapse. Various members of the batting group have spoken about the challenge of facing South Africa’s tall fast bowlers, on pitches where they get more bounce than at home. For example, these coastal locations are not as bouncy as they are in the Highveld, but they clearly pose more of a challenge than Sri Lankans expected. They will also hope that given the wind and sunshine forecast for Gkebarha for the next few days, the surface will dry out and bring the spinners into the game more meaningfully.

South Africa’s own batsmen were all out for 191 in the first innings at Kingsmead, but they were out Temba Bavuma And Tristan Stubbs Gambhir is coming in form in this Test, while Aiden Markram also got a chance to play a good innings at Kingsmead.

South Africa’s concerns before the Test are about their attack vian mulder And Gerald Coetzee Both were rejected. However, they still have leaders in Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansson, who shared 14 wickets in the last Test, with Jansson alone taking 11 wickets.

form guide

South Africa: WWWWD (last five tests, most recent first)
Sri Lanka: LWWWWL

In the spotlight: Tristan Stubbs and Lahiru Kumara

By now, Test cricket must have seemed quite simple to the 24 year old youth. Tristan StubbsIn eleven innings he has scored two centuries and one half-century with an average of 43.90. While Bavuma was tentative in his approach to triple figures at Kingsmead, Stubbs raced into the 90s. He had some luck in that innings, even after being out for 33, he remained positive at the crease and along with Bavuma kept the pressure on South Africa’s lead. He will relish the opportunity to back up that 122 with a solid performance in his first Test in his home town.

Lahiru Kumara He is not always Sri Lanka’s most disciplined fast bowler, but he is their fastest bowler and the most aggressive bowler at Kingsmead. He’s on the verge of joining a pretty exclusive club. Only four seam bowlers have managed to take 100 wickets in Sri Lanka so far – Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal and Dilhara Fernando. Kumara needs only one more out to reach triple figures. If Sri Lanka are to level the series, they will need Kumara to cross that milestone.

team news

South Africa announced their playing eleven on the eve of the match, with Ryan Rickelton and Dane Patterson included in place of Mulder and Coetzee. This means one extra batsman, three seamers and one spinner.*

South Africa: 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Tony De Zorzi, 3 Tristan Stubbs, 4 Temba Bavuma (c), 5 David Bedingham, 6 Kyle Verrein (wk), 7 Ryan Rickelton, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Dane Paterson

Sri Lanka also has to take big decisions regarding its attack. Will they do what they did at Lord’s this year and field four fast bowlers? This is a definite possibility, given that Milan Rathnayake can bat a bit too. They will also want to find a place for Oshada Fernando, as Oshada recently scored 122 and 80 for Sri Lanka A in South Africa, and also scored an unbeaten 75 at the same venue in 2019. But who will pave the way for their inclusion?

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dhananjay de Silva (capt), 7 Kusal Mendis (wk), 8 Prabhat Jayasuriya/Milan Rathnayake, 9 Vishwa Fernando, 10 Asitha Fernando, 11 Lahiru Kumar

pitch and conditions

The day before the match, the playing surface was covered with sacking to prevent excessive moisture loss as dry air was expected to increase in the afternoon. For this reason there was a lot of grass left on the surface. The groundsman has not yet decided how much deduction will be made on the morning of the match. Westerly winds are forecast for most of the match, suggesting batting first and taking advantage of deteriorating conditions later. At present there is no forecast of rain for five days.

Statistics and General Knowledge

If Kumara takes three wickets in Gkebaraha, his tally of wickets will overtake Dilhara Fernando (100) and Lasith Malinga (101) and he will become the third-highest wicket-taker in Sri Lanka’s seam-bowling history.
Sri Lanka lost its first match by 206 runs at Gkebarha in 2016. But they won their most recent game at this venue in 2019 by eight wickets.
Stubbs has been excellent with starts so far in his career, scoring 20 runs in nine of his 11 innings.

Citation

“The way we have prepared our line-up, we believe that with runs on the board, you get enough time to take 20 wickets. It may take us a little more time. It’s not like Durban There is a bit more grass on the wicket, I think there will be something in it for our seamers, but if it is not in favor of our seamers, we have the spin.[av Maharaj] to be effective. So we believe that whether it is seam, whether it is spin, we can still be successful in these conditions.”
captain of south africa Temba Bavuma

“If we compare this cycle to the last cycle, we are performing much better. I am happy with the boys and how they have performed. If we do not reach the final this cycle, we are prepared to lose. Should stay.” Even better in the next one.”
sri lanka captain Dhananjay de Silva

,The preview was updated after South Africa announced their playing XI.

Andrew Fidel Fernando is a senior writer for ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf

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