Faf hoping his battle-weary Proteas can spoil Colombo carnival
COLOMBO: The Proteas will be out to restore dented pride this evening as they play the first of three T20 internationals against Sri Lanka.
The first match will be in South Africa’s graveyard, Colombo. All three of the one-day internationals at the R Premadasa Stadium have been lost convincingly, and T20 skipper Faf du Plessis admitted that with the personnel pretty much the same, it would be hard to shake off the damage done in the 50-over fare.
“We’ve got four new faces, which is great because it gives us new energy, but it will be tough. We have been outplayed in the one-day series, and we will have to dig deep,” he resolved.
The four new faces Du Plessis was referring to were opener Henry Davids, all-rounders Wayne Parnell and David Wiese and leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who jetted in on Monday.
Going the other way, Hashim Amla, Alviro Petersen and Colin Ingram left the country in the early hours of yesterday as they are not part of the T20 plans.
While it would be a big call to draft all four newcomers straight into tonight’s line-up, Davids and Tahir are almost certain to start.
“Henry is very explosive at the top of the order, and takes the bowlers on. It’s something that we are looking to do. David Wiese is also a guy that can clear the ropes, so it will be exciting to see what he can do,” Du Plessis said of his Titans teammates.
“It’s very important for us. We have a lot of pride, and we don’t want to go through the T20 series and lose 3-0 or 2-1, we want to compete and win it.
“It was good to see the guys training hard (yesterday), because we want to put things right,” he added. Today: Sri Lanka v SA, Colombo, 3.30pm August 4: Sri Lanka v SA, Hambantota, 3.30pm August 6: Sri Lanka v SA, Hambantota, 3.30pm
Sri Lanka, led by the enterprising Dinesh Chandimal in this form of the game, named a powerful squad of their own, with the likes of Lasith Malinga and Mahela Jayawardene back in tow.
If the Proteas are to be successful tonight, they will have to turn the tables on a Sri Lankan spin attack that has toyed with them throughout the one-day series.
“We’ve allowed them to bowl to us, and that’s when they are really dangerous,” Du Plessis noted.
“Hopefully in T20 the conditions won’t deteriorate as much, and we would like to put them under more pressure and see how they react.”
Du Plessis also welcomed the threat posed by Tahir, who he hoped to use to strike back at the home side’s attacking players.
“That’s where their spin- ners have been really good, and it’s great to have one of our own to do that to them. I will definitely be using Immy in a striking role,” he added.
The Proteas trained in brutal heat yesterday in Colombo, bracing themselves for what will be a cauldron atmosphere tonight.
On the streets outside the stadium, the “sold out” banners went up last week. Thousands of Sri Lankans queued outside the ground yesterday, hoping to barter their way into what will be a carnival atmosphere.
They expect a Friday night party, as their team pummel a weary-looking South African side further into submission.
The Proteas, dizzy from all the spin they have endured, will seek to spoil the celebrations with a performance that restores their battered pride. POSSIBLE TEAMS Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Dinesh Chandimal (capt), Angelo Mathews, Angelo Perera, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Ajantha Mendis, Lasith Malinga. South Africa: Henry Davids, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis (capt), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Robin Peterson, Morné Morkel, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Start: 3:30pm SA time. TV: SS2.