Upbeat after its landmark win in the Test series (2-0), Sri Lanka will look to keep the momentum going as they begin their 2019 World Cup preparation in the five-match ODI series against South Africa starting today in Dambulla.

Once a major force in white-ball cricket, Sri Lanka has slipped to its lowest since the 2015 World Cup with the results of Angelo Mathew’s team being markedly muted apart from some odd spark.

Ahead of today’s clash, their first ODI series since the tri-series in Bangladesh in January, Sri Lanka have lost 25 of their 34 internationals including a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of the Proteas. They won only eight matches since January 2017.

During this calamitous period, Sri Lanka tried out everything under the sun–from changing coaches and captains to infusing new blood into the side. But it was only after they brought in Chandika Hathurusingha could they stem the rot.

Mathews was reinstated as Sri Lanka’s ODI captain back in January on Hathurusingha’s recommendation. While injury has limited his availability for several months, Mathews is back in the squad to lead the side against South Africa.

With Hathurusingha taking over as head coach, things have started to fall in place. The Test team has grown from strength to strength, winning three of their last five matches. This is beside their 2-0 routing of the Pakistanis in Dubai before Hathurusingha took over in December.

In January, Sri Lanka won a tri-series involving Bangladesh and Zimbabwe but crashed out of the Nidahas Trophy final–a T20 tournament in Colombo involving India and Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka will play at least twenty ODIs, including the current series, before the World Cup. A victory here will give them confidence as they head to the Asia Cup in September and the subsequent series against England (5), New Zealand (3) and South Africa (5) before the game’s global event in England.

On paper, Sri Lanka look capable of beating any team. But recent history shows they have consistently failed to deliver as they have given up their fight far too easily in the limited-overs version of the game.

In their prime, Sri Lankan batters are on par with the best in the world, capable of chasing down any big total as they did during the Champions Trophy against India but. When they are struggling, however, they fall like ninepins regardless of who the opponents are.

At the pre-match press conference, Angelo Mathews admitted that a tough series awaited them, given the strengths of the South African side. But he believes charges are pumped up after the Test win to challenge their much stronger visitors.

“We did extremely well in the Test series and hopefully we can continue the same momentum into the ODI series,” he said. “Having said that, we can never underestimate the South African side. They are a different outfit, an experienced side, and we need to play our best cricket to beat them”.

Sri Lanka, however, are missing a couple of vital cogs. Dinesh Chandimal and Danushka Gunatilleke are serving bans: Chandimal for breaching the ICC spirit of the game and Gunatilleke for breaching Sri Lanka Cricket player code of conduct.

While Chandimal could return for the fifth match, Gunatilleke will miss the entire series as he is serving a six match ban. Apart from this, Mathews is coming back to the side after long injury break. The fact that he is not performing the task of an all-rounder will put pressure on the team management in finalising the playing XI.

Mathews was noncommittal when asked about the possible playing XI as he said conditions will decide the team combination. But it seems like Sri Lanka will go for a spin-heavy attack given the visitors’ vulnerability to the same. Sri Lanka brought in uncapped spinner Prabath Jayasuriya along with all-rounder Shehan Jayasuriya to form the four-man spin attack with Akila Dananjaya and Laskshan Sandakan.

“We know conditions change a lot here,” Mathews noted. “So we need to keep that in mind when finalising the playing team.”

Interestingly, Sri Lanka have lost their last five matches at the venue with the last win being against Pakistan in 2014.

On the flip side of the coin is South Africa who are hoping that the change of formats will give them a positive start to the series as they, too, begin their preparations for the World Cup.

“Just experience of playing in the past spin does not play a big role. You don’t find five spinners in ODI cricket. Sri Lanka would also want to try and see how they can get themselves ready for the world cup in England. It’s not going to be on the subcontinent. These are two scenarios for both teams. We want to get better playing spin and Sri Lanka want to get better playing on good flat pitches. That’s what you will get at the world cup,” South African skipper Faf du Plessis said.

Teams  

   Sri Lanka : Angelo Mathews(c), Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Upul Tharanga, Kusal Mendis, Thisara Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha, Akila Dananjaya, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lakshan Sandakan, Shehan Jayasuriya

   South Africa : Faf du Plessis(c), Hashim Amla, Junior Dala, Quinton de Kock, Jean-Paul Duminy, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Willem Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi