Sri Lanka vs South Africa: 2nd ODI - 5 talking points

1. Spin advantage

Rangana Herath

South Africa realized that spin would be the ideal weapon in the given conditions and played two front-line spinners in the second game who gave a moderately good return of 100/3 in 23 overs if we also include the part-time spin of JP Duminy.

While that may not be bad, it was far inferior to the success of the Sri Lankan spinners. Rangana Herath is going through his best spell in international cricket, whereas even part-time spinner Dilshan was able to derive a lot more from the surface than the South African trio.

Moreover, they lack diversity as all three are left-arm orthodox spinners who rely on the angle with which they bowl and natural variation. They have failed to find an optimum length to bowl on these wickets and their trajectories have been flatter as opposed to Sri Lankan spinners who have dared to flight the ball.

This is also one of the most prominent reasons why they have not tasted success in Sri Lanka in the last two decades.