The South African men’s team will go into its 2023 Cricket World Cup opening match against 1996 champions Sri Lanka in Delhi on Saturday, as slight favourites, having won seven of the last ten encounters between the two nations.
Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma said that the team will go out and play according to the conditions. Talking about the brand of cricket, Bavuma said that he believes in the type of cricket his side plays and will look to churn out those performances during the game.
“We want to go out and see what the conditions are saying on the day and play accordingly. But, most importantly to play according to how we would like to play our cricket. We have heard the last week about the brand of cricket. Nothing really unique to us as a team. All the countries are playing in a certain way and for us, that is our biggest challenge how can we keep churning out those performances game in and game out,” says Bavuma.
Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana has not recovered from a hamstring tear and will miss their World Cup opener against the South Africans. The wily off-spinner sustained the injury last month, which kept him out of the Asia Cup final in which Sri Lanka suffered a 10-wicket thrashing at the hands of India.
Sri Lanka arrived with a depleted bowling unit having already lost the services of fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera and spin rounder Wanindu Hasaranga through injuries.
“History tells us it is likely to be a high-scoring game. Looking at the size of the boundaries, I would expect it to be a high-scoring game as well. So, for me, I expect it to be better,” says Chris Silverwood, Sri Lanka’s head coach.
The Proteas are aiming to improve on their dismal 2019 World Cup performance where they failed to progress from the group stage.
