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This is the first meeting at this ICC T20 World Cup in which both sides are full members and both sides will believe themselves to be contenders. Sri Lanka have fallen off quite a lot in the last decade or so but have started to re-emerge, whilst South Africa will head into yet another world event looking to put to bed the idea of them being the ‘chokers’ of international cricket.
DATE/TIME: UK – Monday 3rd
June, 2024 – 15:30 / INDIA – Monday 3rd June, 2024 – 20:00 / Pakistan – Monday 3rd June, 2024 – 20:00 / Bangladesh – Monday 3rd June, 2024 – 20:30 / West Indies – Monday 3rd June, 2024 – 09:30 / Australia – Tuesday 4th
June, 2024 – 00:30 / South Africa – Monday 3rd June, 2024 – 16:30 / US EST – Monday 3rd June, 2024 – 10:30 / US PST – Monday 3rd June, 2024 – 08:30
VENUE: Nassau County International Stadium, New York, United States
WEATHER: As we head into the hot summer months in New York and the United States, it is expected to be a hot one for this one between Sri Lanka and South Africa with clear, sunny skies at the start of play and throughout the match with temperatures rising from 22 to 26 degrees Celsius.
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: This match will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK, Star Sports in India and Disney Star in Bangladesh, Willow in the United States, PTV Sports and Ten Sports in Pakistan, ESPN Caribbean in the West Indies and SuperSport in South Africa. It will not be televised live in Australia, though.
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: This match will be streamed live via Sky Sports on the Sky Go app in the UK, Disney+Hotstar website in both India and Bangladesh, Willow TV’s website in the United States, Myco and Tamasha in Pakistan, ESPN Play Caribbean’s app in the West Indies, SuperSport’s app in South Africa and Amazon Prime Video in Australia.
SRI LANKA FORM: FINDING SOME FORM & CONSISTENCY
Coached by former England coach Chris Silverwood, Sri Lanka will no doubt be methodical in the way in which they go about their business at this tournament but that is perhaps at odds with their T20I captaincy choice of star all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga. The 26-year-old leg break maverick is an absolute star with both bat and ball and he will be absolutely essential to their chances of squeezing themselves through to the Super 8’s.
On pitches that are expected to take a lot of turn this summer, Hasaranga’s skill as well as the likes of Maheesh Theekshana, Dhananjaya de Silva and Dunith Wellalage will all also be key and, after missing out on last year’s 50-over World Cup through injury, Dushmantha Chameera will also be vital. They were, though, stunned in their final warm-up before the tournament as the Netherlands bowled them out for 161 in 19 overs as they chased the Dutch total of 181-6.
LAST FIVE: LWWLW
SOUTH AFRICA FORM: STAR STUDDED PROTEAS
South Africa head into yet another major tournament with a genuinely star studded squad and that squad lived up to the hype in India at the 50-over World Cup last year before eventually, as ever, failing to recapture that form in the semis against the hosts. This time around, though, whilst there are a lot of excellent players and exciting talents, there are a few concerns about the Proteas as they head across to North America.
The first two big issues would be form-related. Both Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortje and struggling to find any sort of form with de Kock less of a worry due to his body of work but Nortje getting ‘tap’ is now a relatively long-term issue and with Lungi Ngidi left out, with many believing that to be a tactical mistake given the slow pitches may suit his excellent variations, there are issues in both disciplines for the South Africans.
LAST FIVE: LLLLW
SRI LANKA BETTING ANALYSIS
Sri Lanka are bizarre. They reached the Asia Cup final last year before being bowled out for 50 by India and just as they seem to be finding some form for this one, they come unstuck in fairly humiliating fashion against the Netherlands. One of the few who did turn up in the match with the bat was Wanindu Hasaranga and, with his ability to bowl and choose when he bowls as captain, so backing a long shot man of the match bet for the all-action all-rounder would seem a decent shout.
SOUTH AFRICA BETTING ANALYSIS
South Africa’s bowling attack does still include the likes of Kagiso Rabada, who himself didn’t have the best of IPL’s recently, and Marco Jansen. However, the outside bet to be their best bowler in this match would be 31-year-old Ottniel Baartman, who had an excellent SA20 campaign for Sunrisers Eastern Cape and also comes into this one in good form, having picked up 3-26 in the most recent of their comfortable defeats to the West Indies in preparation.
SRI LANKA VS SOUTH AFRICA EXPERT PREDICTION
This is the first game taking place in New York in this tournament and the pitch will play a big part in the result. If it takes spin, which is to be expected for what is essentially a pop-up ground in the United States, then, despite their inconsistency and the hammering they suffered at the hands of the South Africans in the Cricket World Cup last year, then siding with Sri Lanka may well be the way to go for this one – especially given the form of the whole South African team at the moment.
SRI LANKA VS SOUTH AFRICA
TIP: SRI LANKA TO WIN