Kumara with his extra pace gets nod over Rathnayake

• First Test at Kingsmead, Durban today
• Sri Lanka, South Africa battle for place in WTC final

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka have opted for a three-pronged paced attack with the third seamer’s position going to the quickest bowler of the five selected for the series Lahiru Kumara.

Fast bowling all-rounder Milan Rathnayake would have been the ideal choice for third seamer but knowing that the Durban pitch may offer some pace and bounce, Kumara gets the nod.

“Lahiru is bowling very well. We need the extra pace to attack. So it will be Asitha (Fernando), Vishwa (Fernando) and Lahiru,” said Head Coach Sanath Jayasuriya ahead of the first Test against South Africa today.

“We will go with three pacies and one spinner who will be Prabath Jayasuriya. Dhananjaya de Silva can also bowl. The batting order is fixed, there won’t be any changes.”

The batting order that won the home series against New Zealand 2-0 remains intact with Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis who will also keep wickets.

Of the seven specialist batsmen Sri Lanka will field for the Test, the cynosure of all eyes will be on Kamindu Mendis who’s had a dream run in Test cricket so far with eight Tests producing 5 hundreds in three different countries. In September he became the fastest player to 1000 Test runs in 74 years equaling the feat of the great Sir Don Bradman in 13 innings. South Africa offers Kamindu a new challenge to test his skills and temperament on fast tracks. He came through the seam and swing of England quite proficient averaging 53.40 in the series with one century and 2 fifties and followed it up with an even better performance at home averaging 154.50 on the slow and spinning surface. In the two Tests against New Zealand his 2 centuries comprised a career best 182*. These two back to back performances have raised Kamindu’s Test career batting average to Bradmanesque proportions to 91.27. Surely, it has to come down at some point, or will Kamindu extend his dream run? If Sri Lanka are to beat South Africa, Kamindu’s contribution with the bat along with the rest of the players is imperative.

The danger to the Lankan batsmen apart from the pace barrage that South Africa will let loose courtesy Kagiso Rabada, Gerald Coetzee and Marco Jansen will be the left-arm spin of Keshav Maharaj who knows the Durban surface like the back of his hand having been born and played all his first-class cricket there. How Maharaj fares against the Lankan batters could be a crucial factor in deciding the two-Test series.

South Africa, it is learnt, are not preparing green tops for their four must-win Test matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan but leaving it to the individual ground staff to produce good cricketing wickets.

South African captain Temba Bavuma said, “We’re not at liberty to instruct the grounds men to prepare what we’d like. We just try to play on whatever has been prepared. There’s not a lot of concern from my side where we are playing Sri Lanka. Obviously Sri Lanka will be confident in those two venues (Durban and Gqeberha) because they were successful.”

South Africa’s 11 for today’s Test (in batting order): Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada. 

Jayasuriya said that the weather forecast for today is for 90% rain.

Asked whether the toss will play a crucial role, Jayasuriya said, “Historically it is a turning track by the fourth and fifth days. Depending on the weather we will decide whether to bat first or not. If the weather is good definitely we’ll bat first, otherwise, we will have to think of what we want to do.”

Jayasuriya said that practices leading to the Test series had gone on well with the players working with the tile to counter the bouncer. Former South African cricketer Neil McKenzie who was on a short contract with Sri Lanka Cricket as batting consultant will not be working with the Sri Lankan side during the Test matches.

“McKenzie was there with the earlier batch of players. He has contributed a lot. He was with us only for 12 days. He won’t be there during the series as he is involved with the England Lions,” said Jayasuriya.

The Test series is crucial to both Sri Lanka and South Africa for their qualification chances in the ICC World Test Championship final at Lord’s next year. Both teams are going into today’s Test match with three consecutive wins from their last three Tests.