South African fast bowler Morne Morkel bowls during a practice session at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo yesterday, ahead of the second Test beginning today. (AFP)
South Africa, on the verge of a rare series win in Sri Lanka, are considering playing an extra fast bowler on the Singhalese SC track which is not as conducive to spin as the one in Galle.
South Africa played leg-spinner Imran Tahir and the off-spin of JP Duminy in the first Test which they won by 153 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
“I think it’s unlikely we’re going to go with two frontline spinners in this Test, Galle was probably the ideal venue if we were going to go down that route,” captain Hashim Amla told reporters ahead of the second Test, beginning today.
“Traditionally it doesn’t turn as much as early here. Over the last few years in this team the fast bowlers have managed to do the job wherever we’ve been in the world. In some ways it doesn’t come as a big surprise that Dale (Steyn), Morne (Morkel) and Vern (Vernon Philander) have done it everywhere in the world.
“Coming to this venue, I haven’t had a look at the wicket as yet today, but I’ll see what kind of team we’ll have to go to get the best results,” he said.
Amla hoped his fast bowlers who did the bulk of the bowling at Galle had enough time to recover.
“It was a physically demanding Test. From a recovery perspective, we’ve tried to give the guys time to get their bodies in the best nick possible, especially the fast bowlers, whose workload was quite considerable. We’ve tried to manage the quick turnaround,” the skipper said.
South Africa have not won a Test series in Sri Lanka since 2003 under the leadership of Kepler Wessels.
“I don’t think that record is playing on our minds what’s more in our minds is playing good cricket over the next five days,” Amla said.
“We tried to basically forget what happened in the last test and we managed to play really good cricket there and come up with a victory. From a team perspective we’re addressing this game as if we’re coming in on a clean slate.”
South Africa are likely to retain Quinton de Kock as wicketkeeper after he came into the team in Galle because AB de Villiers was struggling with a hamstring injury.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, may hand a first Test cap to 21-year-old wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella as they bid to level the two-Test series. Dickwella was drafted into the squad for the match in Colombo after fast bowler Shaminda Eranga was ruled out of the series with a hand injury.
Eranga had eight stitches inserted to the webbing between his right thumb and index finger while fielding in the first Test.
Dickwella may replace out-of-form wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal.
“Chandimal is available for selection but Dickwella also has a good chance of playing tomorrow,” captain Angelo Mathews said. “We will take final decision after looking at the wicket.”
Mathews said the loss in Galle was a wake-up call for his team who had been in a good run since December, winning the Asia Cup, the World T20 and their first Test series in England.
“If you look at the past six months we have played some good cricket but that is all history and in the past, we have got to move on take one game and series at a time,” Mathews said.
“Every series is a challenge for us it is mentally and physically depressing, it can take a lot out of your body as well but that’s the challenge as players we have got to face,” the all-rounder added.
The Singhalese SC track is normally excellent for batting. “It is usually a flat wicket, it does a little bit in the morning session and then turns out to be a batting paradise. I hope it will be different,” said Mathews. But whatever the pitch we play on we’ve got find ways to beat South Africa.
“They are a very balanced team in all three departments and we expect a massive challenge from them. We have got to sharpen our game in every aspect to compete with them. It’s all about mental preparation, we need to prepare for it and the toss won’t make a massive difference.”