Sri Lanka V http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757: 2nd Test - Toss Report, no Vernon Philander for the hosts
Sri Lanka have won the toss and opted to bat first in the second Test of the three-match series which started at Kingsmead, Durban, today December 26, 2011.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Vernon-Philander-c2753 failed to recover in time from the knee injury he had sustained during a practice session last week, and in his place, uncapped Marchant de Lange is set to make his debut, the only change made by South Africa, from the squad that won by
an innings at Centurion.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Jayan-Kaushal-Silva-c66641.
After winning the toss, the Sri Lankan skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan decided to bat first, after assessing the pitch and conditions.
“The wicket looks good and the conditions look great,” said Dilshan, who is yet to win a series since taking over as Lankan skipper in May this year. “Kaushal Silva is out and Dinesh Chandimal is making his debut. We cannot afford to give any excuses and
we have to play well,” he added further.
The South African skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GC-Smith-c1473 agreed with Dilshan and said that he would have also batted first had he won the toss. Smith termed the injury to Vernon as a huge blow to his side.
“We would have batted first as well,” said http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Smith-c90598 while speaking to media reporters at the toss. “We bowled well in Centurion and we want to repeat the performance. Vernon is out with a knee problem and Tsotsobe has not recovered from his side strain. It
is a big blow for us that Vernon is not playing. We will look to bowl well in the first session,” he further added.
It is a bright sunny day in Durban and the pitch looks quite dry while the playing conditions look ideal for batting. The grass has been cut short but there is still enough to suggest early seam movement. The slow bowlers might have a role to play as the
game progresses.
South Africa 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-c64193 Tahir
Sri Lanka 1 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/HMRKB-Herath-c1559, 10
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/UWMBCA-Welegedara-c2735
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