South Africa's tour of Sri Lanka: Five Sri Lanka players who can make an impact

Sri Lanka have announced their squad for the first two of the five ODI matches to be played against South Africa at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Angelo Mathews will be missing out the first two matches due to a suspension that was handed out to him due to slow bowling over-rate in the final of the tri-nation final Sri Lanka played against India. Dinesh Chandimal, who was the vice-captain of the side, has been given the challenging task of leading the side in the interim making him the youngest captain in history of Sri Lankan cricket. He will have the guidance of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara at his disposal.

Sri Lanka have played some good cricket in the recent past but have failed to convert that into silverware as they bowed out of the Champions Trophy in the semi-final, and lost out to India in the final of the Caribbean tri-series.

Their record at home in the shorter format of the game is impressive and hence they will be confident of putting up a good show. The return of Tilakratne Dilshan from an injury that he suffered at the Champions Trophy is good news as it strengthens the top-order.

An area of concern for them will be the performance of some of the new faces in the side. The likes of Lahiru Thirimanne and Shaminda Eranga need to take greater responsibility. Thisara Perera makes a return to the team after he was dropped for the series in the Caribbean.

Here is a list of five players who can make a significant contribution to the side against the mighty Proteas side:

Shaminda Eranga

5. Shaminda Eranga

Nuwan Kulasekara suffered an injury to his finger while fielding to his own bowling in the Caribbean which has ruled him out for the first two matches.

This means that greater responsibility will be on the young shoulders of Shaminda Eranga who has gained some valuable experience from the tours to England and West Indies. He has the confidence of the captain which was proved by the fact that he was given the final over in the tri-nation series final but was unfortunately put to the sword by MS Dhoni.

That can turn out to be a critical learning curve for him. He can definitely improve upon his record of 15 wickets in 11 appearances with an average of just below 27 at an economy rate of just over 5.50 runs per over.

He will have the opportunity to ply his trade against the likes of Hashim Amla and AB De Villiers which will be an exciting challenge.

Dinesh Chandimal

4. Dinesh Chandimal

He has been given the additional responsibility of captaining the side for the first two matches of the series but his primary job will be to get some runs under his belt. His last half-century came against Australia in January and Sri Lanka have played about 13 one-day matches since.

His career figures are not very impressive as he averages just over 30.0 in 61 matches with only two hundreds, both of which came within his first six appearances. The lack of form is startling considering the promotion he has been given as the captain of the side.

There is no doubt that he has the potential to make it big on the international stage and perhaps the added responsibility will bring the best out of him. Playing in home conditions will give him a better chance to make the most of this opportunity.

Rangana Herath

3. Rangana Herath

The left-arm orthodox spinner has picked up 15 wickets in the last eight matches that he has played for Sri Lanka, making him the most successful bowler. He has had his fair share of critics but he has proved himself bowling on supportive but unfamiliar conditions.

The most impressive aspect of his contribution was that he was able to dominate the Indian batting line-up in a manner no spinner has done in the recent past. He derived turn from the surface, squaring up the right-handed batsman, and occasionally bowling the arm-ball to get the leg-before dismissal into play.

Herath would have returned to Sri Lanka as a more confident practitioner of his art and considering that South African batsmen are not particularly adept against spin-bowling, he can commence upon another successful venture in home conditions.

Mahela Jayawardene

2. Mahela Jayawardene

Jayawardene stepped down from position of the captain of the team in spite of making it to the final in the 2011 World Cup, a match in which his fine century went in vain, but the team depends on him now more than ever.

His runs at the top-of-the-order have never been vital now that the team is going through a tough transition as new faces try to find their feet in the team. He might have to slip down the batting order in this series as both Tilakratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga will be available to open the batting.

He has three half-centuries and one century in his last seven innings which means that he is going through a purple patch , and he will hope to continue that through the series against South Africa.

Kumar Sangakkara

1. Kumar Sangakkara

Sangakkara has played two massively important innings for Sri Lanka in the recent past proving that he is still the go-to man in this side who can survive in hostile conditions and put up a brave face for the side.

His knock of 134 runs in the Champions Trophy group stage against eventual runners up England will go down as one of the most memorable knocks in one-day cricket in the last decade.

He backed that up with a critical, match-winning innings of 90 against the West Indies that ensured that the team reached the final of the tournament in the Caribbean. He will be there to stabilize the innings whenever the team is going through a tough period against the potent pace battery of South Africa.