The first Test of the 2-game series between South Africa and Sri Lanka is set to begin on November 27 at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban. The big match will begin at 1.00 PM IST for fans in India. Hosts South Africa (SA) and visitors Sri Lanka (SL) will clash in the first Test of the series, at the Kingsmead in Durban, starting on Wednesday, November 27, and it will carry through till December 1.
The Proteas host Sri Lanka in what is their first home Test series of the South African summer and their first red ball games since a two-match sweep of Bangladesh last month.
SA vs SL : Previous Performances
South Africa are coming into the game after whitewashing Bangladesh at their home in the Test series. South Africa need to win their remaining four Tests to hope for a World Test Championship finals berth. South Africa looked excellent against Bangladesh in the Subcontinent, winning their two Tests comprehensively, one of those by an innings and 273 runs.
Kagiso Rabada is set to lead the Proteas’ bowling attack, which should see spinner Keshav Maharaj play a very important part on their own ground. Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee will back up Rabada, whilst lots of excitement surrounds batter Tristan Stubbs at number three after an excellent tour of Bangladesh.
With three Tests wins in a row spanning two different series against Bangladesh and West Indies, South Africa will be aiming to sustain their newfound winning momentum in a bid to cement a place in the 2025 WTC finals. Aiden Markram and Tony de Zorzi have both tallied over 550 runs for the Proteas in their past eight Test appearances, and will start out as some of the primary batters in the team. With the ball, Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj will be expected to helm South Africa’s pace and spin attacks respectively.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka too are sailing on the same boat to see themselves in the final of the WTC 2025 (World Test Championship). It is worth noting that, South Africa skipper, Temba Bavuma is back in the squad after recuperating from an elbow injury. Lungi Ngidi and Nandre Burger have been left out of the squad due to injuries.
Sri Lanka used their victory against England at the Kia Oval as a springboard moving forward in Test cricket. Two wins against New Zealand, also in September further boosted their World Test Championship final aspirations and here the tourists are playing on a ground where they are yet to taste defeat in red ball cricket.
Sri Lanka recently secured a 2-0 series win over New Zealand, and stunned England back in September in a dead-rubber affair at The Oval. Holding a similar three-match winning streak, Sri Lanka is currently ranked third on the 2023-25 WTC points table, and a positive outcome over South Africa will likely push their agenda for a top two finish.
Prolific run-maker Kamindu Mendis and captain Dhananjaya de Silva have both racked up runs in heap off late. Prabhat Jayasuriya also hogged the limelight during Sri Lanka’s series win over New Zealand and the left-arm spinner will be hoping to find some spin and bounce on the Kingsmead surface.
The Lanka Lions have a strong record at Kingsmead in Durban, having never lost any Test match. This time, the visitors come with an impressive bowling lineup and momentum of magnificent six wins this year. On the other hand, the Proteas, despite their series win over West Indies and Bangladesh, have struggled in Durban, winning only two Test matches since 2010.
SA vs SL : Head to Head Records
| Matches | 31 |
| Won by South Africa | 16 |
| Won by Sri Lanka | 09 |
| Draw | 06 |
| No Result | 00 |
| First-ever Fixture | 8-10 December, 2002 |
| Most-recent Fixture | 24-27 June, 2022 |
SA vs SL : Pitch Report
The Kingsmead pitch offers ample assistance to the pacers with lateral movement and significant bounce. Once the smaller cracks are formed after days of play, the variable bounce will come to haunt the batters. On the weather front, the forecast predicts a 100 percent prediction. Hence chances of rain make the possibilities of a full day’s play quite grim.
Some pace and bounce is likely early on, but if the sun falls on this Kingsmead pitch, expect it to become a little lower, and slower. Sun, though, might be in short supply early on in this match, with showers forecast for Wednesday, and overcast conditions predicted for Thursday.
The pitch at Kingsmead Stadium will have enough bounce, pace and grass initially, with overcast conditions helping fast bowlers immensely. Once the sun is out, the pitch will get slow and easier to bat. However, weather predicts showers in between, meaning the moisture will be retained. Hence, not many big scores are expected, but it will indeed be an eventful game. Batting first is a good choice to avoid batting last on this surface.
The pace friendly nature of the Kingsmead Cricket Ground surface will prompt batters to employ extreme cautiousness at the top while negotiating the new ball threat. However, conditions are expected to ease up for the batters later on Days 1 and 2 of the Test. The average first innings total in the past five Test matches played at the venue has turned out to be 304. The captain winning the toss will likely opt to bat first.
According to AccuWeather, there is an 84 percent chance of precipitation and about 8 percent probability of thunderstorms at the start of the match around the Kingsmead Cricket Ground in Durban. There is also a chance of about 99 percent cloud cover hovering the city, which might prompt the match to undergo significant disruptions due to impending rain showers.
Rain could severely affect day one, but the remaining days are expected to remain dry with sunny spells and temperatures in and around the mid-twenties.
SA vs SL : Big Picture : Two teams Sri Lanka and South Africa on an upward trajectory in WTC table
Sri Lanka’s men are third on the World Test Championship table, with a win percentage of 55.56, and South Africa are right on their heels, on 54.17. Both are in striking distance of a top-two finish, for which presently, there are five serious contenders – India, Australia, and New Zealand being the other three.
Ordinarily, this is enough to make this a tilt worth watching (there are distractions such as some Border-Gavaskar Trophy, plus a New Zealand vs England series elsewhere, apparently), but there are further layers of dramatic potential here. Sri Lanka, if you remember, are the only Asian team to ever have beaten South Africa at home in a series, back in 2019. Seven players from this current Sri Lanka squad had played roles in that 2-0 sweep.
And in Durban, Sri Lanka have never once lost a Test, having played three there. In fact, they have won their two most recent games at Kingsmead, Rangana Herath’s wizardry having delivered their first triumph on South African soil back in 2011, before the Kusal Perera special sent them screaming to one of the most miraculous wins in Test history in 2019.
But while the Sri Lanka team of that 2019 tour were held together by hope and kinesiology tape, this one seems to be building to something? (We ask tentatively, as this is a strange assertion to make for Sri Lanka teams over the last decade.) So far this year, they have won six Tests, the most impressive of which was their victory at The Oval.
And they have what is increasingly beginning to seem like a seam-bowling outfit. Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, and Lahiru Kumara are the likely starters. But they have others like Kasun Rajitha and Milan Rathnayake who have had good showings in overseas conditions too.
South Africa, meanwhile, are on an upward trajectory of their own. They’d sent what amounted to about an E-team to New Zealand for a pasting in February, but since then, their big dogs back in the XI, have won away series in West Indies and Bangladesh. They’re at the start of their home summer now, so presumably they are overflowing with confidence.
The one wrinkle in all of this is that they haven’t especially loved playing at Kingsmead over the past 15 years. Since the start of 2010, they have lost five matches to the two they have won at this venue. While South Africa quicks revel in the extra bounce their home surfaces usually deliver, the coastal venues, and this one in particular, tends to play slower and lower in comparison.
On top of which, South Africa captain Temba Bavuma has said that they will not be requesting made-to-order green tops on this tour, which will please Sri Lanka’s batters especially. That doesn’t mean there will be no bounce or movement. Shukri Conrad, South Africa’s head coach, said he expected “some good pace” at Kingsmead. But expect the surface to take turn on the later days, especially. South Africa have some skillful seamers, but their spin attack will be tested here too.
SA vs SL : Vital Stats that matters
- Maharaj’s best-ever figures have come against Sri Lanka – his 9 for 129 in the first innings at the SSC, in Colombo, in 2018.
- Kamindu Mendis’ away average so far, from nine innings, is 79.25. Five of those knocks came in England, where he averages 53.40, his lowest in any country.
- In the nine Tests these teams have played since the start of 2015, South Africa have won five and Sri Lanka four. All but two of these Tests were in South Africa.
- If Prabhat Jayasuriya gets three wickets in Durban – his 17th Test – he will become the joint second-fastest bowler to 100 Test wickets, behind George Lohmann, who made his debut in the 19th century. Among players active since 1950, only Yasir Shah has done it in 17 Tests.
- Lahiru Kumara is also closing in on 100 dismissals. He’d be the fifth Sri Lanka fast bowler to the milestone, behind Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, and Suranga Lakmal.
SA vs SL : Team News for SA and SL
South Africa:
Temba Bavuma’s comeback will be a welcome change for South Africa. Moreover, to fill in for Lungi Ngidi and Nandre Burger, Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee will don the whites for the Proteas.
South Africa released its 14-member squad for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka, where captain Temba Bavuma is making a comeback after a long injury layoff. An elbow injury kept him out of the Bangladesh series. But the skipper is now fit to lead his side.
Besides, quality pacers Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee have also returned to serve in the whites. However, Lungi Ngidi and Nandre Burger have been excluded due to injuries. Regardless, the Proteas’ spirits are high as they are coming off a stunning series sweep victory over Bangladesh.
SA Predicted Playing XI : Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk.), Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada
Sri Lanka :
Sri Lanka will depend highly on the likes of Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne to make sure the run-making aspect is taken care of. Oshada Fernando, who has not played for Sri Lanka since one year is also been called up and it is unlikely that he will make it to the playing XI.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will approach the upcoming series against South Africa as make or break since the WTC final qualification is at stake. In their 17-member squad, Sri Lanka recalled left-arm spinner Embuldenya after 2022. Prabhat Jayasuriya, who took 18 wickets against New Zealand, will also mark his return.
Oshada Fernando, the opening batter who last played for Sri Lanka a year ago, has also been recalled. While Dhananjaya de Silva will lead the side, Pathum Nissanka and Kamindu Mendis will anchor the batting lineup. Mendis will be key as his Test average is above 90 in 2024. Overall, Sri Lanka’s squad also looks balanced as they take on the mighty South Africans in the latter’s backyard.
SL Predicted Playing XI : Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kusal Mendis (wk.), Milan Rathnayake, Prabhat Jayasuriya, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando.
SA vs SL Fantasy XI : Kusal Mendis, Kyle Verreynne, Pathum Nissanka, Angelo Mathews, Temba Bavuma, Tony de Zorzi, Kamindu Mendis, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Asitha Fernando
SA vs SL : In the spotlight : Keshav Maharaj and Kamindu Mendis
Keshav Maharaj :
No bowler in this match knows the Kingsmead surface better than Keshav Maharaj. He was born in Durban, has played all his first-class cricket for the KwaZulu Natal Dolphins, and averages 21.52 in Tests at the venue. Though he has 54 Tests on his resume now, he’s only played three in his hometown, though. Partly, this is down to Covid. But one of those matches was against Sri Lanka, on that 2019 tour, and he took three wickets for 87 runs in that match.
This sounds like it wasn’t especially impressive, but when one of the greatest innings of all time is being played by the opposition, it’s not terrible. He is also five years down the road in his development now, and at 34, should be in his spin-bowling prime. How Maharaj fares against Sri Lanka’s batters will go a long way to determining this series, you suspect.
Kamindu Mendis :
When will the Kamindu Mendis fever dream end!!! Eight Tests in, he has five hundreds – in three different countries – and in September became the fastest player to 1000 Test runs in 74 years. That average of 91.27 has to come down at some point, surely? But then people said that about him when he was in England, in August. His average was only in the 80s then.
Though he is an all-format player for Sri Lanka now, Kamindu’s prowess has been limited to Tests for now – he is only a decent white-ball player, though his being able to bowl with either arm is likely more useful in those formats. Can he take this rocket-fueled start to a Test career to a whole new continent? In any case, there has never been a Sri Lanka batter who has been this hot out of the gate.
SA vs SL : Match Prediction
South Africa and Sri Lanka’s recent form in Test cricket has been terrific, meaning the upcoming 1st Test is evenly poised. However, considering the home conditions advantage and return of key players, South Africa is likely to win the 1st Test.