South Africa vs Sri Lanka – 3rd Test – Toss Report
Sri Lanka have opted to bowl first after winning the all important toss in the third and deciding Test against South Africa, played at the Newlands, Cape Town, January 3, 2012.
Both sides have made changes to their lineup for this crucial encounter with the tourists forced to make an alteration in their bowling department after Dilhara Fernando was ruled out through injury and is replaced by Dhammika Prasad. Other change in their rank includes the axing of opener Tharanga Paranavitana for Lahiru Thirimanne.
Paranavitana had an abysmal time with the bat which has seen him score just three fifties in his last 18 Test innings. The Lankan skipper, Tillakaratne Dilshan at the toss report said that the pitch has considerable grass covered on it and with rain in the past few days; he hopes that his bowlers provide the early breakthroughs.
As for the hosts, they too made two changes which saw the return of inform pacer, Vernon Philander, who missed the second Test through injury. He will replace the unlucky Marchant de Lange, who grabbed a seven-wicket haul in his debut Test match.
Also batsman, Alviro Petersen is slotted has taken the opening berth, while Jacques Rudolph moves down at no.6 at the expense of Ashwell Prince. South African skipper, Graeme Smith was not too bothered about batting first and will want to provide his team with a solid opening.
It has been a mixed bag for the local team, who triumphed by an innings margin in the first Test before falling badly at Durban, losing by a hefty 208 runs, failing to deal with the spin of Rangana Herath.
The tourists earned their first Test win of the year and will be hoping to cause a big upset by claiming an unlikely series win in South Africa.
SA playing XI:
GC Smith*, AN Petersen, HM Amla, JH Kallis, AB de Villiers, JA Rudolph, MV Boucher†, DW Steyn, M Morkel, Imran Tahir, VD Philander
SL playing XI:
TM Dilshan*, HDRL Thirimanne, KC Sangakkara, DPMD Jayawardene, TT Samaraweera, AD Mathews, LD Chandimal†, NLTC Perera, HMRKB Herath, UWMBCA Welegedara, KTGD Prasad
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