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

South Africa trail Sri Lanka 0-2 after losing the 2nd ODI by 17 runs (D/L method)

South Africa put in an improved performance in the second ODI of the five-match series against Sri Lanka, but it was not enough to prevent them from going 2-0 down in the series.

Their past record in Sri Lanka does not augur well for the rest of the series as they are yet to win a 50-over match on Sri Lankan soil in almost twenty years.

The sub-continent giants won the toss and decided to follow the template they set up in the first victory by batting first. Morne Morkel made an early dent allowing South Africa to penetrate the middle order this time. Tillakaratne Dilshan’s knock of 43 runs off 64 balls was bettered by stand-in captain Dinesh Chandimal who scored 43 off 51 balls.

These proved to be significant contributions in the context of the game. South Africa’s effort with the ball was commendable as Morne Morkel led the bowling attack, finishing with figures of 3/34 in his 10 overs as every other bowler chipped in too. Unfortunately, the batting line-up could not capitalise upon that.

Hashim Amla, who missed the first game due to a neck-strain, was injured in the field and could not participate with the bat. That proved to be a heavy blow as the Proteas lost early wickets once again as Robin Peterson and JP Duminy departed quickly.

Alviro Petersen’s resilience was broken by Rangana Herath whose purple patch continues. David Miller and Ryan McLaren were left to pick up the pieces as South Africa were reeling at 69/5. They managed to get a partnership going only for the rain to wash out the rest of the match.

The victory margin of 17 runs, arrived upon by D/L method, was not an accurate reflection of the one-sided nature of the contest given South Africa’s lack of fight with the bat.

Here are five talking points that were generated from the match:

5. Amla’s injury

Hashim Amla

Hashim Amla is indispensable to this inexperienced South African batting line-up, and that was exposed in the 180-run loss that they suffered in the first match.

His return for the second game was a considerable boost to this side in terms of skill and experience. However, he suffered a knee-injury while fielding at the fine-leg boundary in the 43rd over of the game that meant he could not participate in the run-chase. It looked like a serious injury, and he will not take the field in the next game, but he will definitely be a part of the contest at some stage in this series.

4. Morne Morkel’s spell

Morne Morkel

The surfaces in Sri Lanka are not ideally suited to the style of bowling that Morne Morkel employs. The bounce is usually low, pitches suck the pace out of the delivery, and there is not much movement available for a bowler who hits the deck.

In such a circumstance, Morne Morkel’s spell at the Premadasa Stadium was admirable. He delivered upon the responsibility of providing the early breakthrough and then dismissed Tillakaratne Dilshan who was setting up for a big innings.

It was evident that AB De Villiers was looking for him as soon as another partnership emerged, and he delivered by dismissing stand-in-captain Dinesh Chandimal who was providing the much-required impetus at the latter end of the innings. In the absence of Dale Steyn, Morkel needs to perform in his top-gear while ensuring that he does not suffer any more injuries.

3. Chandimal’s captaincy

Dinesh Chandimal

Angelo Mathews was suspended for the first two ODIs and that prompted the promotion of Dinesh Chandimal to the top job for the first two ODIs. The 23-year-old could hardly have hoped for a better return than 2 wins in 2 matches.

Not only did he provide an alternative to the selectors in doing so, he has also justified the decision of not stepping back to seek support in the experience of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. The responsibility also brought out a better batting performance as he played a critical knock of 43 runs, coming out of a personal lack of form and providing that much needed boost to the flagging innings.

Moreover, he did well to hand over the ball to Dilshan after assessing the conditions during the second innings, and he was rewarded with the prized scalp of the South African captain.

2. Batting order

AB de Villiers

South Africa put up a competitive performance with the ball in the last game, dismissing Sri Lanka for a low total of 223 in their own backyard.

The batting department, on the other hand, failed to fulfill its share of the responsibility once again. They have been unfortunate in that they have been without their key opening batsman Hashim Amla, but they have invited bad luck by positioning their better prospects lower down the order.

Captain AB de Villiers can promote himself to number three ahead of JP Duminy if Hashim Amla is unavailable for the third-match, whereas vice-captain Faf Du Plessis should bat at number four.

JP Duminy can move to number five where he can provide the impetus during the batting power-play and slog overs with his ability to negotiate the spin bowling.

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.