Sri Lanka vs. South Africa: Five players to watch out for

Morne Morkel makes an unsuccessful appeal for a LBW during the second ODI at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on July 23, 2013. (Getty Images)

4. Morne Morkel

He was the silver lining on a grey cloud for South Africa in the last encounter finishing with impressive figures of 3/34 in his 10 overs. He is leading the bowling attack in the absence of Dale Steyn and hence his responsibility in the team is greater. While the batting department remains short of runs, it will be critical that he delivers early wickets in the rest of this series in order to restrict the sub-continent giants to the lowest possible total.

These are not ideal conditions for him as the surfaces do not offer sharp bounce, or pace and Morkel does not rely a lot upon the use of the slower ball that is so frequently called upon by sub-continent bowlers. He has the opportunity to add that to his repertoire and grow as a bowler in this challenging series.