South Africa vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test: Rangana Herath vs Hashim Amla, Kagiso Rabada vs Kusal Mendis and other key battles

Recent success of both these teams spices up this contest. Moreover, presence of some big names from international cricket in the series makes it a mouth-watering prospect.

South Africa and Sri Lanka will resume their Test rivalry as the first Test of the three-match series goes underway at Port Elizabeth on the Boxing Day. Both the teams come into this series on the back of some impressive performances in the whites. While the hosts South Africa recently defeated Australia 2-1 in their own backyard, Sri Lanka prevailed over lowly Zimbabwe in an away series. They had also blanked Australia 3-0 at home earlier this year. Recent success of both these teams spices up this contest. Moreover, presence of some big names from international cricket in the series makes it a mouth-watering prospect. The clashes between these players may determine the outcome of the matches. Let us take a look at some of the key battles that we may get to witness in the first Test:

Rangana Herath vs Hashim Amla and JP Duminy: The magician from Kurunegala will be up against the mighty South African batting. Herath has been a threat for the teams visiting Sri Lanka for a while now. He has taken the baton from spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan and continued from exactly where the champion bowler left. In last five Tests, he has taken 47 wickets; 19 of those have come in away conditions of Zimbabwe. However, bowling in challenging conditions of South Africa, where pacers get more purchase from the track, will be a difficult proposition for him.

Full Cricket Scorecard, South Africa vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test at Port Elizabeth

More so, he will have to deal with the likes of Hashim Amla and JP Duminy, who are considered to be the better players of spin bowling. Amla has an excellent record in Asia and he will be expected to counter the threat Herath possesses. Duminy too has time and again proved how efficiently he can tackle the best of the spinners. The outcome of this game will depend a lot on how Herath, Lanka’s premier match winner, fares. If Amla and co. can negotiate with him, South Africa will have an upper hand.

Kagiso Rabada vs Kusal Mendis: In absence of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, young Kagiso Rabada has emerged as South Africa’s strike bowler. He played an instrumental role in South Africa’s series win in Australia recently, claiming 15 wickets in the three-match series. Once again Steyn and Morkel will not be around and it will be up to him, Vernon Philander and Kyle Abbott to lead South Africa’s pace attack.

Kusal Mendis’ career has shaped up quite on the similar lines. In the absence of skipper Angelo Mathews and vice-captain Dinesh Chandimal in the middle-order in the recent times, the young batsman has shouldered the bulk of the responsibility. The prodigal talent played one of the best counter-attacking knocks in the history of Test cricket against Australia earlier this year and bailed his side out of trouble with a flawless 176 in the second innings, thus sealing his side’s win. The duel between these two players, thus, will be exciting to watch.

Angelo Mathews vs Faf du Plessis: While Mathews returns to the team after an injury layoff, du Plessis will lead the side as full-time captain after AB de Villiers recently quit team’s Test captaincy. Both the players will have a lot to prove, as Mathews will look to get back to his role seamlessly while du Plessis will want to make a mark in his first Test as full-time captain. The latter has been in a good nick, having hit an unbeaten ton in the last Test against Australia. Mathews scored 37 in the practice match against South African Invitation XI and will look to get amongst the runs quickly.

Nuwan Pradeep vs Quinton de Kock: South Africa’s run-machine Quinton de Kock has been in a red-hot form. He struck two fine fifties and a hundred on the tour to Australia. Pretty much a ‘see the ball, hit the ball’ kind of player, de Kock loves to have the ball come on to the bat nicely. He is all the more dangerous when pacers are in operation, as he plays his shots and takes his chances against them. This makes his duel with Nuwan Pradeep, the spearhead of Sri Lanka’s pace attack, an interesting prospect.

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