What is it?
2019 World Cup group stage match
Who is playing?
Sri Lanka v South Africa
When is it?
Today, 1.30pm (UAE time) start
Where is it being played?
Riverside, Chester-le-Street
How to watch in UAE?
Tune in to OSN Sports Cricket HD or create an online account with Wavo for US$54 (a little less than Dh200). The account will provide customers access to two channels, OSN Cric Xtra 1 and OSN Cric Xtra 2.
What’s their head-to-head like?
Matches: 76
Sri Lanka won: 31
South Africa won: 43
Tied: 1
No results: 1
Form guide (past five games):
Sri Lanka: WLWLW
South Africa: LLWLL
What they said:
Chandika Hathurusingha, Sri Lanka coach, on being wary of South Africa: "When you have no pressure of qualifying, they can come and play without any pressure, fearless cricket and that can get them going, so at the same time they can turn up and just want to go home, so you never know."
JP Duminy, South Africa all-rounder, on their forgettable World Cup performance: "It's been pretty dismal from our part. We obviously want to apologise to the public and the South African fans for letting them down. When you put in performances like that, you know, you in a way almost feel ashamed of that."
Likely XIs:
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Kusal Perera (wk), Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Jeevan Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis (c), Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir.
Summary:
Sri Lanka coach Chandika Hathurusingha is right to be wary of a South African backlash today. After all, the Proteas have little left to lose having been ruled out of contention for the semi-finals following defeat to Pakistan earlier this week.
Faf du Plessis' men will be looking to end their campaign on a high, and given their opposition are not playing their best cricket at the minute and have problems of their own, they will always have a slight edge. On the other hand, for Sri Lanka there is still a semi-final spot up for grabs.
