Sri Lanka find hope despite two defeats

SOUTH AFRICA V SRI LANKA ROUND-UP

WHILE Sri Lanka showed what they are capable of in the T20 leg of this tour, the ODI part has been a one-sided affair in favour of South Africa.

Two games played, and two more than convincing wins from the hosts leaves Sri Lanka with plenty to do going into tomorrow’s third ODI.

The visitors are yet to pass 200 in their innings, setting just 182 for the Proteas to chase in the first clash before collapsing to 186 all out in Durban in pursuit of 308.

But despite not coming close to competing, Sri Lanka head coach Graham Ford is more than optimistic about what the future holds.

He said:“For some of the guys it’s a bit of a jolt to come and see how tough it is to play in foreign conditions and to play in South Africa.

“From that point of view, it’s got to be a learning opportunity. If we are realistic and we look at the players we’ve got and the ages and the amount of games they have played, it is about learning and it is about improving.

“At times we’ve shown improvement, at times I have hoped for more improvement. On tonight’s performance (second ODI), I was quite excited about what I saw.

“I feel when I look at the number of games so many of them have played and the ages of some of them, if they are looked after and shown the right kind of support, in time, they could be a very good Sri Lankan side.”

Three wickets apiece from Wayne Parnell and Imran Tahir accounted for Sri Lanka in Port Elizabeth with Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis hitting half centuries to give the hosts the lead in the series.

In the second clash, centuries from Du Plessis and David Miller helped put the hosts 2-0 up with every South African bowler picking up at least one wicket, too.