Bavuma looks to spinners for edge against SL

South African white ball captain Temba Bavuma has expressed confidence that his team can beat Sri Lanka in the upcoming white ball series with their spinners.

Bavuma speaking to the South African media before the team departed for Sri Lanka, said: “I have a lot of confidence in our spinners like (Tabraiz) Shamsi who is top in the T20 rankings – he is flying high. And we got Keshav Maharaj, we know what quality he is. With those two spinners I believe we can really more than just compete and dominate in those conditions. Not forgetting having guys like George Linde in our resources; with those spinners we can really be confident.”

South Africa will take into the ODI series that they have won in Sri Lanka on two consecutive occasions in 2018 (won 3-2) and 2014 (2-1).

“Playing in Sri Lanka is no easy task, whether it is red ball or white ball cricket, so we take a lot of confidence that as a team we’ve had success in Sri Lanka. I think it’s important for those groups to understand why it is that we were able to get the positive results and make sure that we replicate those types of performances going forward,” Bavuma said.

“We expect a tough encounter. Sri Lanka are a very strong outfit in their own conditions. Going to Sri Lanka, there is an opportunity, there is a challenge for us to be successful in those conditions. That’s what we will be looking to do in terms of our preparations, to try and acquaint ourselves to the types of conditions and challenges as much as we can, so that we can play the best type of cricket in those conditions.

“It is ideal for us to be put in that type of pressure, especially the batters. Their performances of late, of the bowling group, has been really good. They have been stretched and they have adapted accordingly, now the batters are also going to be put into that space where they really have to test their skills and adapt accordingly. I expect the conditions (in UAE) to be similar to Sri Lanka where it will favour the slow bowlers. It’s good preparation for us for the T20 World Cup.”

Bavuma said the recently concluded series against India has given them a chance to possibly look at what they might come up against.

“Some of us have played in Sri Lanka so from the experience point of view we have got that on our side. We obviously expect conditions to be in their favour. Far from what we are used to having here back home, conditions will probably be more suited to the slow bowlers, the spinners. In terms of our preparations we are trying to get that in order as much as we can. We have got to get accustomed to everything about Sri Lanka – the weather, the heat. We can’t prepare for it in South Africa.”  (ST)