Lankans face the mighty Protea Power after a historic series win

Sri Lankans are mighty happy with the mixed results across formats, the test series may have been a horrible story to look back but the T20Is were fruitful for them which earned them first series win in South Africa. Although it was a second string Protea side that featured in T20Is, but the Lankans will take it anyway with the slump in the form they are going through across formats. And now it's time for a shift to ODI Cricket as the five-match series is set to commence on Saturday at Port Elizabeth.

The Series win in T20Is was a certainly a confidence booster for the visitors after they were trashed in the longer format, and they would be out of their comfort zones if they have to tackle the full-strength ODI side of Proteas, with captain de Villiers back in the squad after a 6-month gap, it will be a challenge to stop him as in the final T20I, he already showed he isn't out of touch with the bat.

On the other hand, the Lankans have to step in without their captain Angelo Mathews, probably the most fluent and experienced campaigner in the side. Upul Tharanga, who has been charged with leading the team for the series, has a big task in front of him, as he has been in and out of the ODI squad in recent times.

Thr recent ODI Series results also haven't been in their favour, as they lost to the Aussies at home with a 3-2 margin and didn't win a match during the England tour earlier. On the other side, the Proteas clean swept the Aussies in a 5-match series at home.

Pitch

The pitch at Port Elizabeth likely to be on the slower side. And given the matches it has produced till now, it is one of the few venues in South Africac where spinners have their say.

Venue: Port Elizabeth, Time: 13;30 IST, Date:  28 January Saturday 2017

Squads:

South Africa: AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi 

Sri Lanka: Dhananjaya De Silva, Kusal Janith Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, Upul Tharanga (Capt), Kusal Mendis, Shehan Jayasuriya, Asela Gunarathne, Sachith Pathirana, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dasun Shanaka, Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara, Suranga Lakmal, Lakshan Sandakan, Jeffery Vandersay

At the end of the day, the Sri Lankans are the underdogs with form and strength and the Proteas seek to start their preparations for the Champions trophy with a full-fledged squad from now on, but at this stage, the contest between the two sides lie on how the struggling Lankans complete against the red hot Proteas.