South Africa welcome back world-beaters for second Sri Lanka clash
WHAT with a full complement of fast bowlers to choose from and Hashim Amla on the mend from a neck spasm, SA are already happier campers going into today’s second one-day international against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
Not that it would have taken much to improve the visitors’ mood in the wake of the crushing defeat they suffered in the first match of the series on Saturday. Only once have they been beaten by more runs than at the weekend.
SA conceded 320 for five, and that after putting the Sri Lankans in to bat. Then they were knocked over for 140 in 31.5 overs to lose by 180 runs.
Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Teams batting first at the R Premadasa stadium have won 17 more ODIs than those who have opted to field first in all the ODIs played there and also 17 more when the match is a day and nighter, as Saturday’s was. Yet A B de Villiers told the locals to pad up after he won the toss.
Lonwabo Tstotsobe, SA’s highest ranked one-day bowler, missed the match with a recurrence of his ankle problem while Amla’s absence left a large hole at the top of the order.
SA lost their line and length with the ball, they lost the plot in the field, and were an even more unreasonable facsimile of the team they used to be at the batting crease.
As baptisms go, Russell Domingo’s first match as head coach could not have been more fiery.
All of which remains relevant because the teams will return to the same venue today to play another day/night game. An SA win seems unthinkable, but what do they need to do to reassure South Africans that they have improved?
For a start, not send down the deluge of short deliveries that made Kumar Sangakkara look an even better player than he undoubtedly is. Sangakkara scored 169 on Saturday, 131 of them on the leg side.
“You definitely don’t bowl short in Sri Lanka, unless you’re Brett Schultz – but he had serious pace,” ex-Protea Jonty Rhodes said yesterday.
“Perhaps you could have done so 10 years ago but the Sri Lankans play all over the world now and know how to handle short-pitched bowling.
“When somebody scores 131 runs on the leg side obviously the plan has not worked.”
Rhodes battled to understand how SA had lost their way so badly with the bat, particularly as conditions were good enough for the Sri Lankans to put up a towering total.
“If you bat and run really well you shouldn’t struggle to score six an over on that ground, which is quite big,” he said. “The guys need to bat with responsibility, and more than just a few of them.”
Rain in Colombo yesterday curtailed SA’s training session and thunderstorms have been forecast for today.
Proteas ready to show their worth
WHAT with a full complement of fast bowlers to choose from and Hashim Amla on the mend from a neck spasm, SA are already happier campers going into today’s second one-day international against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
Not that it would have taken much to improve the visitors’ mood in the wake of the crushing defeat they suffered in the first match of the series on Saturday. Only once have they been beaten by more runs than at the weekend.
SA conceded 320 for five, and that after putting the Sri Lankans in to bat. Then they were knocked over for 140 in 31.5 overs to lose by 180 runs.
Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Teams batting first at the R Premadasa stadium have won 17 more ODIs than those who have opted to field first in all the ODIs played there and also 17 more when the match is a day and nighter, as Saturday’s was. Yet A B de Villiers told the locals to pad up after he won the toss.
Lonwabo Tstotsobe, SA’s highest ranked one-day bowler, missed the match with a recurrence of his ankle problem while Amla’s absence left a large hole at the top of the order.
SA lost their line and length with the ball, they lost the plot in the field, and were an even more unreasonable facsimile of the team they used to be at the batting crease.
As baptisms go, Russell Domingo’s first match as head coach could not have been more fiery.
All of which remains relevant because the teams will return to the same venue today to play another day/night game. An SA win seems unthinkable, but what do they need to do to reassure South Africans that they have improved?
For a start, not send down the deluge of short deliveries that made Kumar Sangakkara look an even better player than he undoubtedly is. Sangakkara scored 169 on Saturday, 131 of them on the leg side.
“You definitely don’t bowl short in Sri Lanka, unless you’re Brett Schultz – but he had serious pace,” ex-Protea Jonty Rhodes said yesterday.
“Perhaps you could have done so 10 years ago but the Sri Lankans play all over the world now and know how to handle short-pitched bowling.
“When somebody scores 131 runs on the leg side obviously the plan has not worked.”
Rhodes battled to understand how SA had lost their way so badly with the bat, particularly as conditions were good enough for the Sri Lankans to put up a towering total.
“If you bat and run really well you shouldn’t struggle to score six an over on that ground, which is quite big,” he said. “The guys need to bat with responsibility, and more than just a few of them.”
Rain in Colombo yesterday curtailed SA’s training session and thunderstorms have been forecast for today.
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