Buoyed new look Sri Lanka on 1-month long tour of South Africa
Sri Lanka’s predictably gruelling one and a half month long December 26, 2016 to February 10, 2017 Test and ODI series tour does hold much interest. While the odds are heavily tacked in favour of South Africa for the home advantage the hosts will enjoy, what sparks the interest around the 3-match Test series and 5-match ODI series is the fact that Sri Lanka has gone a notch up the ladder in equalling South Africa in terms of Test ratings.
This status raising credentials that must indeed buoy Angelo Mathews and his charges came in the wake of Sri Lanka’s recent sweeping away Test and ODI triumphs against Zimbabwe. Consequently, both teams are sitting at 96 marks in the ratings though South Africa is in 5th position as against Sri Lanka 6th position in the ICC test team ranking table. The overall record between exchanges between the two countries sees South Africa leading with 11 Test wins as against Sri Lanka’s 5 with 11 draws from 22 games since 1993. But Sri Lanka can be proud of its ODI success against the Proteas being on an even keel with 29 wins in tying with South Africa’s 29 with 1 tie and 1 no result from 60 matches. It reflects the island nation’s high spark in the highly galvanizing action deriving instant cricket where Sri lanka is second to none. In fact, its proud record of being one of the elite countries to have won cricket’s biggest prize – the 1995-96 World Cup defeating Australia in the final at Lahore is the best reflection of the status quo Sri Lanka basks in historically.
In perspective, with both regular captain Angelo Mathews and vice captain Dinesh Chandimal declared fit for the South Africa hurdle, it is with some strong muscle that the Sri Lankan camp can look ahead to South Africa. That is in the backdrop of some remarkable cricket a new look Sri Lanka has put on the table in both forms of the game on the back of some highly aspiring youngsters who have come on the blocks from the country’s youth cricket drive driven by the All island Head Coach Hemal Mendis, the former Cambrian cricketer who was a dynamic batsman during his time but was one of those unlucky guys not to have won the selectors nod. With youngsters like Kusal mendis and Dhananjaya De Silva who have conspicuously been the stars with the bat among the new finds, and some handy bowlers from the young set, indeed Sri Lanka has quite forceful array of latent talent to put up against South Africa. One of the over 30 age group players who has happily for the country raised his hands both with bat and ball as an useful all-rounder is Dilruwan Perera. Certainly Sri Lankan fans could look to the new look cast giving the South Africans a run for their money.
Here is the comparison of test ratings before and after the 2nd test match between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
Before Zim Vs SL 2nd test match | After Zim Vs SL 2nd test match | ||||
Rank | Team | Rating | Rank | Team | Rating |
1 | Ind | 115 | 1 | Ind | 115 |
2 | Pak | 109 | 2 | Pak | 109 |
3 | Aus | 108 | 3 | Aus | 108 |
4 | Eng | 105 | 4 | Eng | 105 |
5 | SA | 96 | 5 | SA | 96 |
6 | SL | 95 | 6 | SL | 96 |
7 | NZ | 91 | 7 | NZ | 91 |
8 | WI | 69 | 8 | WI | 69 |
9 | Ban | 65 | 9 | Ban | 65 |
10 | Zim | 8 | 10 | Zim | 5 |
Test Series
Date | Match | Venue |
---|---|---|
26 - 30 December 2016 | 1st Test | St Georges, PE |
2 - 6 January 2017 | 2nd Test | Newlands, Cape Town |
12 – 16 January 2017 | 3rd Test | Wanderers, Jhb |
T20I Series
Date | Match | Venue |
---|---|---|
20th January | 1st T20I | Supersport Park, P |
22nd January | 2nd T20I | Wanderers, Jhb |
25th January | 3rd T20I | Newlands, Cape Town |
ODI Series
Date | Match | Venue |
---|---|---|
28 January | 1st ODI | St Georges,PE |
1 February | 2nd ODI | Kingsmead, Durban |
4 February | 3rd ODI | Wanderers, Jhb |
7 February | 4th ODI | Newlands, Cape Town |
10 February | 5th ODI | Supersport Park, PTA |
By Srian Obeyesekere
-The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Sri Lanka Cricket-