Thursday Dec 26, 2024
Thursday Dec 26, 2024
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Kingsmead, Durban. Venue of first Test between Sri Lanka and South Africa
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Sri Lanka will go into the first cricket Test against South Africa starting tomorrow, with nine of their players having played at this venue before and possessing first-hand knowledge of the pitches and conditions they can expect at Kingsmead, Durban.
Dimuth Karunaratne, Oshada Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Lasith Embuldeniya, Kasun Rajitha, and Vishwa Fernando were members of the side that toured in 2019, and Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal in 2011.
The first batch of 10 players (Test specialists) from the 17-strong team arrived in Durban 10 days ahead of the rest of the squad which left for South Africa on 22 November. They were sent there to acclimatise themselves and to train and practice ahead of the two-Test series until the rest of the players, some of whom were playing in the white-ball series against New Zealand, joined them.
Following a day of relaxation on Saturday, the squad began practices from Sunday.
“It is pretty hot here. We were told it will be about 20-22 degrees Celsius, but it is close to 30,” said Sri Lanka Team Manager Mahinda Halangoda. “The weather is very dry and not humid and we understand the chances are that it might rain according to the weather reports here.”
“The ground staff has done a lot of work on the wicket and has kept rolling it. There is a bit of grass but they said they will reduce it. Hopefully, they are planning to cut it just before the start of the match.”
“Batting consultant Neil McKenzie has given the boys quite a lot of information about the grounds, the wind direction, and from where the fast bowlers should be bowling, how the ball will behave in this particular track, and all that. We have played a lot of cricket here.”
Halangoda said that there is a likelihood that Sri Lanka will go with an extra fast bowler, making it three, with one spinner, as Captain Dhananjaya de Silva can also bowl off-breaks. “We’ll have to check the wicket before picking the team.”
The stats show that the team batting first at Durban has won 60% of matches while only 20% have been won by the team batting second.
Sri Lanka are going into the Test series without any first-class matches under their players’ belt. Since the two-Test series against New Zealand ended in September, the red-ball cricketers have played no competitive matches while the rest of the squad have been involved in white-ball cricket against the West Indies and New Zealand.
The Test match is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. local time (1 p.m. SLT).
