Sri Lanka bowl in second ODI against South Africa

Sri Lanka bowl in second ODI against South Africa

Sri Lanka had picked three seamers, adding Kasun Rajitha in place of left-arm spinner Lakshan Sandakan, because it was likely the pitch would help fast bowlers.

Faf du Plessis hit an unbeaten 112 as South Africa brushed aside Sri Lanka. (AFP pic)
CENTURION:
Sri Lanka won the toss and sent South Africa in to bat in the second one-day international at Centurion’s SuperSport Park on Wednesday.

Captain Lasith Malinga said Sri Lanka had picked three seamers, adding Kasun Rajitha in place of left-arm spinner Lakshan Sandakan, because it was likely the pitch would help fast bowlers more than at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday.

South Africa won the first match in the five-game series by eight wickets.

In a second change, opening batsman Avishka Fernando replaced Upul Tharanga.

Fernando’s only previous international was as an 18-year-old in 2016 when he failed to score against Australia.

But he made an attacking 72 in Sri Lanka’s warm-up match against an Invitation XI last week.

South African captain Faf du Plessis said it was β€œpretty standard” that teams winning the toss in Centurion elected to chase.

β€œIt gets a bit skiddy in the evening and can be difficult to defend,” he said.

β€œBut it is a nice opportunity for us to bat and hopefully for some of the guys to put their hands up with some good contributions.”

All-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo, who missed the first match because of a hand injury, returned in place of Dwaine Pretorius in the only change for the home side.

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