South Africa won the toss ask Sri Lanka to bat

South Africa won the toss and decided to bowl first against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street.

"It's a fresh pitch, so we'll be looking to use the seam movement early today," said Faf du Plessis.

Two changes for South Africa, with Dwaine Pretorius coming in for Lungi Ngidi, and JP Duminy slotting in for David Miller, who has tweaked his groin. Faf didn't say so at the toss, but I suspect South Africa have decided not to play Ngidi given his earlier injury troubles in the tournament. No risking

"Win," was Faf's succinct response to what South Africa are hoping to get out of this game. "We're playing an extra batter today, hopefully that will free up the batters. We deserve everything that's come towards us," he says of criticism of the team, "but it's important to put that to one side and try to be the best cricketer you can be."

"It seems like a good wicket, and if we can put a score on the board the bowlers can do the rest," added Dimuth Karunaratne. "We want the experienced guys to stand up and take responsibility. We just want to win this match and go forward."

Sri Lanka aren't quite done with the business of this World Cup, and their focus is very much in the present. Their victory over England and England's subsequent defeat to Australia have opened up the qualification race, and Sri Lanka could still reach 12 points if they win all three of their remaining games, potentially with a little wriggle room in the top four. They may well need it, if their mercurial run through this tournament so far is anything to go by, and their coach wants the batsmen to step up after the bowlers have repeatedly bailed them out.

South Africa arrived in England desperate to succeed in this tournament, but after five defeats in seven games, they're out of contention for this World Cup. This match - and their final game against Australia - will present an opportunity to bid farewell, at least in this format, to JP Duminy and Imran Tahir, who are all set to retire from ODIs after the World Cup. They have pride (and jobs) on the line now and for the moment they are a team in limbo, with one foot in the past even as they eye the future.

Playing XIs:

South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Aiden Markram, 4 Faf du Plessis (capt), 5 Rassie van der Dussen, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Dwaine Pretorius, 9 Chris Morris, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Imran Tahir

Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), 2 Kusal Perera (wk), 3 Avishka Fernando, 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Jeevan Mendis, 7 Dhananjaya de Silva, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Isuru Udana, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Suranga Lakmal

Source: thedailystar