South Africa vs Sri Lanka - 5th ODI Fantasy Preview

Not many would say that this was the same touring side that looked so good a couple of weeks back, where they whitewashed the hosts in the Test series. Now, Sri Lanka are trailing 0-4 against South Africa in the ODI series and are in serious threat of being whitewashed themselves, with the final ODI being played today in Cape Town.

South Africa have a lot of headaches too, especially with team selection, but for right now, they’re winning. Both teams have this last game to experiment with their line ups before the World Cup. As for Sri Lanka, the coach could be sacked and the captain could be changed again, right before the 2019 ICC World Cup. Can Lasith Malinga salvage some pride for this team? Keep reading for our fantasy preview of the 5th ODI…

Match info

Tournament: Sri Lanka tour of South Africa 2019
Date: 16th March 2019, 4:30pm IST
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Capacity: 25,000+
Series status: South Africa lead the series 4-0.

Form (recent first)

South Africa: W W W W W L W W L
Sri Lanka: L L L L L L L W L

Stats

Sri Lanka are yet to win an ODI in 2019 – 7 played till now.
Quinton de Kock has an amazing 347 runs in 4 games this series; average 86.75!
South Africa have 2 centuries and 5 fifties this series; Sri Lanka have only 2 fifties.
367/5 is the highest score at this ground – South Africa vs Sri Lanka in Feb 2017.
South Africa have won 4 of their last 5 ODIs at this ground.
Sri Lanka won their only ODI here back in the 2003 World Cup.

South Africa

The effort has been led by Quinton de Kock, and we spoke in the 4th ODI fantasy preview of how he really latches onto Asian opponents when he hits form. The hosts are expected to go in with the same playing eleven, and they’ll be hoping JP Duminy has a good outing in this last ODI before the World Cup, while Dale Steyn would need some wickets too. As for Reeza Hendricks, scores of 1, 29, 4 and 8 so far in the series means he has exhausted his chances for that tournament. Skip him for today.

Imran Tahir has 7 wickets in this series so far, the joint highest along with Lungi Ngidi – 7 each. Tahir has been exceptional, with a point to prove after losing his central contract and announcing his retirement. Tahir will be a part of my team, while I will skip Ngidi for a higher value fantasy pick in Anrich Nortje, who has low-key also been good, with 6 wickets this series.

Sri Lanka

The hosts really need a pick-me-up before the World Cup and this is their last chance. Captain Lasith Malinga has consistently blamed the batters but the bowlers themselves haven’t been picking wickets. Their highest wicket taker this series has been the part-time option of Dhananjaya de Silva (who you must pick again) – 5 wickets. Malinga himself has only 3 wickets this series, but I’m backing him to finish this series well.

The experienced players need to stand up and that includes Upul Tharanga at the top. He has been around for years and a little bit of inspiration from him at the top will do the team wonders. I’m picking Tharanga and Kusal Mendis with the bat, the latter being their highest scorer this series with 146 runs. Priyamal Perera bagged a golden duck on debut but he may keep his place and Isuru Udana is a must-have in your fantasy sides, given his recent all-round performances in the last 2 ODIs.

SA v SL Betting

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— Read Scoops (@ReadScoops) March 16, 2019