South Africa and Sri Lanka will start World Cup campaigns on 7 October 2023. And this match is going to be a banger. If you want to see the live game and SA vs SL highlights, wait for a few seconds on this blog. Let the video load first, and scroll down to find the embedded video. Also, there will be a live blog at the end to share our analysis for each turning point in an innings.
Read: ICC Cricket World Cup points table 2023
South Africa is one of the most lethal teams in the group stages. And they have gotten their form recently. Their performance in the series against Australia shows the mood they have right now.
Check: ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Predictions
Sri Lanka is struggling with their form. They will miss Maheesh Theekshana, who got injured during the final against India. It’s just another item on their list of sorrows.
Match details
South Africa vs Sri Lanka live-streaming
You can watch the matches live in South Africa and Sri Lanka in many ways. In this article, we will try to give at least one example.
- South Africa: South African cricket fans can enjoy the matches on the SuperSport app.
- Sri Lanka: You can watch the live streams on Sirasa TV.
And live streams can only be enjoyed with friends and family. It doesn’t matter if you are alone. You can join our WhatsApp group and enjoy the game with fellow cricket fans.
Read: ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 WhatsApp Group
SA vs. SL predictions
Let’s try to predict the match. South Africa seems to be the obvious winner. However, what is the base of this prediction? Let’s look at their key players and recent ODI performances to understand it.
Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka Squad for World Cup 2023
South Africa: South African Team for ICC World Men’s World Cup 2023
Key players
Temba Bavuma was seen sleeping during the ICC Captain’s Day event. However, this man is not asleep on the pitch. The average of 80 runs in the recent 9 matches shows that Temba will not let the bowlers breathe. Tabraiz Shamsi will play a very important role. The ball is spinning sharply. If we consider these factors, Tabraiz is crucial to picking wickets.
Kusal Mendis is always on the scorecard when Sri Lanka has recently won a match. He averaged 81 in the past ten games. And all the responsibility falls on him since Sri Lanka does struggle a lot with its batting.
D Wellalage has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. Theekshana is injured and will not play the first match. That means Wellalage has to pick up wickets now. However, Wellalage is the best person you want to put this responsibility on. He can become a strike bowler.
Recent performance
Both teams are coming with high morale. South Africa won the series against Australia, while Sri Lanka is the runners-up of Asia Cup 2023. They came straight from Cricket World Cup qualifiers unbeaten. However, Sri Lanka has been exposed to a lot of problems. And South Africa has the arsenal to utilize that to their advantage.
Sri Lanka vs South Africa – Highlights CWC 2023
Let’s read about the highlights here. From toss to the POTM, let’s have a look.
Toss
Again, a team has won the toss and has chosen to field first. It seems like this will be the strategy in this World Cup. Here are the toss stats so far.
| Total matches | 4 |
| Teams who chose fielding first | 4 |
Playing 11
| SOUTH AFRICA | SRI LANKA |
|---|---|
| Quinton de Kock | Pathum Nissanka |
| Temba Bavuma | Kusal Perera |
| Rassie van der Dussen | Kusal Mendis |
| Aiden Markram | Sadeera Samarawickrama |
| Heinrich Klaasen | Charith Asalanka |
| David Miller | Dhananjaya de Silva |
| Marco Jansen | Dasun Shanaka |
| Gerald Coetzee | Dunith Wellalage |
| Keshav Maharaj | Kasun Rajitha |
| Kagiso Rababda | Dilshan Madushanka |
| Lungi Ngidi | Matheesha Pathirana |
First Innings – South Africa
| SOUTH AFRICA 428-5 (50 overs) | |
| BATTING | BOWLING |
| Rassie van der Dussen 108 (110) | Dilshan Madushanka 2-86 |
| Aiden Markram 106 (54) | Dunith Wellalage 1-81 |
| Quinton de Kock 100 (84) | Kasun Rajitha 1-90 |
| TARGET | 429 runs |
- Sri Lanka could not compete on a grass pitch with little turn, and South Africa had a field day.
- They lost Bavuma early, but Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen ran a lengthy 204-run partnership.
- Sri Lanka had a few chances, but South Africa dispatched them when they failed to capitalize. This duo’s aggressive batting meant they both achieved quick hundreds.
- After their centuries, both were discarded but then came the Markram craze.
- Seeing him bat at full speed is incredible, and everyone saves. Sri Lanka’s bowlers and spectators would have liked it today.
- Some of the purest power hitting was on display as the South African vice-captain scored a 49-ball century, the fastest in ODI World Cup history.
- Klaasen and Miller cameoed in the end, and 428 points were added to the board.
Second innings – Sri Lanka
| SRI LANKA 326-10 (44.5 overs) | |
| BATTING | BOWLING |
| Charith Asalanka 79 (65) | Gerald Coetzee 3-68 |
| Kusal Mendis 76 (42) | Keshav Maharaj 2-62 |
| Dasun Shanaka 68 (62) | Kagiso Rabada 2-50 |
| RESULT | South Africa won by 102 runs |
- Sri Lanka was pretty much done since South Africa had scored the highest in the cricket World Cup history. And it isn’t like this is a new thing for them. They crossed the 400-run mark twice in the previous World Cup. However, the Lankans put up a great fight.
- The openers got out early, crushing SL’s hopes for the victory. But the fight wasn’t over yet.
- There were short partnerships here and there. But, nothing was adequate enough to overcome the 428 runs hill. It was an uphill battle, and the Lankans didn’t have enough wickets to surpass it.
- Asalanka, Kusal Mendis, and Dasun Shanaka had some hope in their prolific batting. But the South Africans were just awesome today. This target was not an easy one today.
- Sri Lanka got out at 326 runs. It was a good fight from the Lankans.
Man of the match
Aidam Markram won the MOTM award by scoring the fastest century in the history of the World Cups. You cannot make a highlights video if the batter is hitting the boundary on every delivery. Were we playing a video game here? Stick Cricket?