The first Test between the two is slated to take place at the Kingsmead in Durban from 1 PM IST on Wednesday. Sri Lanka will also fancy their chances to crawl back into the WTC standings after displaying phenomenal form against New Zealand back at home.
The Lankan team has seen a resurgence under the tutelage of their legendary cricketer, Sanath Jayasuriya and will look to go all the way through to the WTC finals.
RSA set to miss key pacers, Ngidi and Burger…
Temba Bavuma who was absent from captaincy duties in recent red ball matches for the Proteas is set to return in this important fixture. Bavuma has recovered from the elbow injury which had sidelined him from cricketing action.
Here’s how the teams are placed on the WTC table☟☟
| Pos | Team | Played | Won | Lost | Draw | DED | Points | PCT |
| 1 | India | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 110 | 61.11 |
| 2 | Australia | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 90 | 57.69 |
| 3 | Sri Lanka | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 55.56 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 54.55 |
| 5 | South Africa | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 52 | 54.17 |
| 6 | England | 19 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 19 | 93 | 40.79 |
| 7 | Pakistan | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 40 | 33.33 |
| 8 | West Indies | 10 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 26.67 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 25.00 |
Source: ICC
South Africa is currently placed in the 5th position on the WTC Standings and has a 4-game advantage, given all the games are scheduled to be played back on their home turf. The Proteas are recently in some great form after dominating Bangladesh in their backyard in a 2-0 win over the Tigers. Naturally, the South Africans will be favourites going into the series.
However, the team goes minus two key pacers, Lungi Ngidi and Nandre Burger, who have been injured which can seriously impact the pace battery of the Proteas given the pitch of Durban.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankans have fielded a full squad which will be led by Dhananjaya de Silva. The Lions have seen a rapid rise in their cricketing fortunes as they began to win series after series under the guidance of Sanath Jayasuriya.
Sanath Jayasuriya as Head coach of Sri Lanka
Won an ODI series vs 🇮🇳 in after 27 years
Won a Test match in 🏴 after 10 years
Won a Test series vs 🇳🇿 after 15 years
Won a T20I series vs 🏝️ for first time
Won an ODI series vs 🏝️ after 4 years
Won an ODI series vs 🇳🇿 after 12 years pic.twitter.com/wOzlDGp013— Thurunu Jayasiri (@ThurunuJ) November 17, 2024
Moreover, the Lions are currently placed in the third position on the WTC standings and will fancy their chances to climb to the top 2 position of the Test Championships.
Weather Report For SA vs SL 1st Test
According to reports from Accuweather.com, the weather conditions at the Kingsmead in Durban don’t look too promising. The temperature is expected to be somewhere between 22° C to 23° C with winds coming in from the South-West region at 26 km/h. It will remain cloudy, breezy and not too warm during the day.
But the biggest trouble comes with the name rain as there are over 84% chances of precipitation and about 8% probability of thunderstorms. Not just this, there is also a 99% cloud cover hovering over the city. Hence, the game will experience significant disruptions in all likeliness due to impending rain showers.