Sri Lanka Chose to bat vs South Africa
Sri Lanka won the toss and, unsurprisingly, chose to strike first on a Khettarama area which tends to get harder to hit as the game progresses. As this decisive third ODI is played on the same strip that hosted the first game last Thursday, the Spinners are expected to play an even bigger role than they have so far in the series.
While South Africa made no changes to the eleven that marched to victory on Saturday, Sri Lanka sounded three changes. Minod Bhanuka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa were excluded. In their place, Sri Lanka have brought in Dinesh Chandimal – who will keep the wickets – and Kamindu Mendis, whose exceptional form during the recent national T20 competition earned him a recall. They will probably both be in the top three.
Sri Lanka also has a rookie pitching Maheesh Theekshana, 21, who had also been effective in the domestic T20 tournament, as well as the last A-List tournament. A wicket-to-box thrower known primarily for his accuracy, Theekshana replaces Akila Dananjaya in the XI. Its presence also means that Sri Lanka has a relatively inexperienced spin attack; Left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama is only playing his fifth game.
South Africa also has three frontline spinners in their XI. Captain Keshav Maharaj has another spinner on her left arm, George Linde. Tabraiz Shamsi, the left arm wrist spinner who took five wickets in the second ODI, is also there.
Sri Lanka: 1 Avishka Fernando, 2 Dinesh Chandimal (week), 3 Kamindu Mendis, 4 Dhananjaya de Silva, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Praveen Jayawickrama
South Africa: 1 Janneman Malan, 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Reeza Hendricks, 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (week), 6 Wiaan Mulder, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 George Linde, 9 Keshav Maharaj (capt), 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Tabraiz shamsi
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo’s correspondent in Sri Lanka. @afidelf
