Sri Lanka and South Africa match are all set to start as both teams will start their ICC Champions Trophy 2017 campaign on Saturday. South Africa will be odds-on favorites to win the match. They are ready to face Sri Lanka in the first match. The AB de Villiers will lead South Africa this time in this tournament.
Sri Lanka is all set to be led by Angelo Mathews who is making his debut with this Champions Trophy 2017.
Upul Tharanga is also a key player of the Sri Lanka team and now he will face the team South Africa in the first match of ICC Champions Trophy. In South Africa, the key player is the Angelo Mathews who continues to make a slow recovery from injury.
SL vs RSA ICC Champions Trophy 2017 3rd Match Result
Mathews already took a break from the international cricket since January, underwent a fitness test on Friday afternoon and now it is sure that on this Saturday he can play the game before Sunday on the Oval match.
Earlier this week, a Sri Lanka Cricket stated to various media: “Mathews had complained of stiffness and pain, prompting the team management to conduct radiographic investigations, which revealed a strain on the muscle.
“He will engage in supervised recovery over the next few days but will most likely sit out the first group stage match”.
Watch IND vs PAK Live Streaming 4th June 2017
Beaten 5-0 by the Proteas last year, Sri Lanka starts the match as underdogs and now surely the team need big performances from some of the ace-cricketers’ including, Pacemen Lasith Malinga and all-rounder Thisara Perera.
South Africa have leg-spinner Imran Tahir and explosive batsman David Miller in their side capable of turning the outcome of the match at any moment. Captain AB de Villiers believes his side is ready to peak after the 2-1 series when they got defeated in front of England.
“Sri Lanka always plays well in these tournaments,” said De Villiers. “We’re well aware of that, and they deserve our respect. They have a lot of match-winners on their team.
“So it’s so much more important for us to make sure we don’t think about what happened in the last series and we focus on tomorrow’s game.”
Slow left-arm Keshav Maharaj deputized for Tahir at the England series and this will also decide the fate of the today’s match between Sri Lanka and South Africa.
“Imran is fit, and he’s our number one spin bowler,” said De Villiers. “Keshav understands his role when it comes to that.
“There might be a time in the tournament where we might use a different strategy if we play against a certain opposition or on a certain field. But for tomorrow, Imran is the number one pick.
“He is fit and ready to go, so you should see his name on the team sheet.”
South Africa finished their series against England with a seven-wicket win at Lord’s, and this is also sure that all member of their Champions Trophy squad is involved with each other in the three matches.
“As difficult as it is for me to say, that was definitely a warm-up for us,” stated Ab De Villiers. “I hate to say that – because I hate losing games of cricket.
“It was a bit of a catch 22 to get that right message across to the boys, (and) it was maybe a bit confusing at times.
“But if you do go into a series thinking that you want to play all 15 players, then your mind can distract from the focus point. I think that’s what happened.
“We actually could have won that series, easily – which is a great boost of confidence for us – keeping in mind that we played 15 players, and it was a bit of a warm-up for the Champions Trophy.”
Team News:
Sri Lanka: Captain Angelo Mathews is right now having best side, and despite in the match of the Friday nothing incredible happen but this time it is expected to see something interesting. The prospects but this time are not looking suitable, however, so Upul Tharanga is expected to lead the side. Despite there is some kind of weakness we see in the South Africa’s weakness, Tharanga ruled out playing two spinners in the match.
Probable XI:
Upul Tharanga (c), Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Asela Gunaratne, Chamara Kapugedera, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lakshan Sandakan, Lasith Malinga.
South Africa:
David Miller and Imran Tahir passed their fitness tests on Friday so this Saturday their matches are yet to see. AB de Villiers now playing and getting bowling attack to see, which would mean including Morne Morkel and Wayne Parnell, but there is some little issue right now persisting between the team and in the transformation targets in the match.
Probable XI:
Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers (c), JP Duminy, David Miller, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell/Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir.
Time of the Cricket Match: Sri Lanka vs South Africa Champions Trophy match is all set to play today at 3 PM (IST).
Channel: The Sri Lanka vs South Africa Champions Trophy match will be live telecast on Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD 1 and Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD 1.
Venue: The Oval (UK)
Match Prediction: Sri Lanka will win.
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