Sri Lanka vs South Africa 1st ODI: Five talking points

South Africa’s uninspiring track record in the island nation got worse as Sri Lanka mauled their opponents at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo by a margin of 180 runs.

While the world may be busy following the affairs at Lord’s, this is a critical series for South Africa for many reasons. They are beginning a new phase of their journey to the 2015 World Cup as Russell Domingo takes charge of the side after Gary Kirsten chose not to extend his contract post Champions Trophy due to personal reasons.

This squad under the leadership of AB De Villiers lacks the stalwarts but it has a core group of players who will be vying for key roles in the side in the immediate future. Moreover, they will be keen on improving their horrific track record in Sri Lanka where they have not won a game since 1993.

Sri Lanka had a few issues of their own to address prior to the game as Angelo Mathews was suspended whereas Nuwan Kulasekara was not available due to an injury he sustained in the West Indies.

Dinesh Chandimal’s first outing as captain was made easier by the fact that the senior stalwarts of the side made mockery of the South African bowling line-up.

Sangakkara, especially, played another scintillating knock becoming the second-highest run-scorer this year. Rangan Herath capped the day for the Lankan lions.

Here is a list of five talking points that were generated from the game:

Robin Petersen

5. Impotent spin attack

South Africa’s pace battery lacks the bite that they usually boast of without the presence of Dale Steyn as a result of which greater responsibility will fall upon the spinners given the fact that the surfaces will be slow and dry.

Rangana Herath’s performance suggested that there was enough in the wicket for the spinners to exploit but South Africa’s pack of three left-arm spinners looked ineffective on the day. They failed to stop the flow of runs in the middle overs, never threatened to break a partnership and failed to create pressure on the batsman.

Sri Lanka did not get off to a flying start but breakthroughs were required in the middle overs which never came allowing the batsman to go for the kill in the death overs.

Rangana Herath

4. Herath’s exploits

Rangana Herath has been Sri Lanka’s outstanding performer in the last two tournaments proving his worth in this squad. He had picked 15 wickets in his last eight matches making up for some lacklustre bowling performances of the pace battery. He did not have to do that yesterday as the pace battery delivered the goods upfront but he cracked the code by dismissing AB De Villiers just when it looked like that he would be able to pose a challenge.

It was almost a dream dismissal for the left-arm orthodox spinner who angled the ball into the batsman and derived a bit of spin making De Villiers poke at thin air as he was bowled. He wrapped up the tail with great ease and he will be assigned to do that job throughout the series.

JP Duminy

3. Top-order collapse

South Africa were without key batsman Hashim Amla as he was suffering from a slight neck-strain. That was a key absence in the side that was already short on experience.

Colin Ingram, who walked out to bat alongside Alviro Petersen, did not bother the scorers as his defense was exposed against an unexpected toe-killer that Lasith Malinga hurled.

JP Duminy was promoted to number three as the only player in the side who has the experience of batting in Sri Lankan conditions but failed to make a substantial impact. This aspect of their game will be strengthened by the return of Hashim Amla but given the Proteas’ ineptitude against spin bowling, they must ensure that they keep wickets in hand in the first 15 overs.

Chris Morris

2. Death bowling

The absence of Dale Steyn hurt South Africa as they gave away over 100 runs in the last 10 overs.

The inexperience of Chris Morris was exposed as he conceded 80 runs in his spell of nine overs. This onslaught was facilitated by the fact that Sri Lanka preserved their wickets through the course of the match and that allowed them to launch an uninhibited attack at the end of the innings.

Kumar Sangakkara got a huge amount of his runs on the leg-side which means that there was a lack of plan as well as inaccuracy of execution. South Africa will have to make amends to this area of his game in order to compete in this series.

Kumar Sangakkara

1. Sangakkara’s ton

Kumar Sangakkara’s match-winning innings was strangely paced. He ensured that he weathered out the initial threat posed by the South African quicks when they had lost an early wicket.

His first 66 runs came in 91 balls and the rest of the 103 runs in 46 balls. The impact of such an innings is all the more important considering the fact that the team had very few resources to rely upon after him. He was helped by the fact that Mahela Jayawardene battled it out at the other end of the pitch.

However, after his dismissal, Sangakkara monopolized the strike and the responsibility. In his 100-run partnership with Lahiru Thirimanne, he contributed 83 runs. This was not a one-off performance but backs up the scintillating 134 run knock against England in the Champions Trophy.