Sri Lanka bat against unchanged South Africa in series decider as Maheesh Theekshana debuts

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Dinesh Chandimal slots into the hosts’ XI in the third ODI; Akila Dananjaya, Minod Bhanuka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa left out

Sri Lanka chose to bat vs South Africa

Sri Lanka won the toss and, unsurprisingly, chose to bat first on a Khettarama surface that tends to become more difficult to bat on as the match goes on. As this deciding third ODI is being played on the same strip that hosted the first match, last Thursday, spinners are expected to play an even more significant role than they have so far in the series.

While South Africa have made no changes to the XI that sauntered to victory on Saturday, Sri Lanka have rung three changes. Minod Bhanuka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa have been left out. In their place, Sri Lanka have brought in Dinesh Chandimal – who will keep wickets – and Kamindu Mendis, whose outstanding form in the recent domestic T20 competition earned him a recall. They will both likely bat in the top three.

Sri Lanka also have a debutant in 21-year-old offspinner Maheesh Theekshana, who had also been effective during the domestic T20 tournament, as well as the most-recent List A tournament. A wicket-to-wicket bowler known primarily for his accuracy, Theekshana replaces Akila Dananjaya in the XI. His presence also means that Sri Lanka have a relatively inexperienced spin attack; Praveen Jayawickrama, the left-arm spinner, is playing only his fifth game.

South Africa also have three frontline spinners in their XI. Captain Keshav Maharaj has another left-arm spinner for company, in George Linde. Tabraiz Shamsi, the left-arm wristspinner who took five wickets in the second ODI, is there as well.

Sri Lanka: 1 Avishka Fernando, 2 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 3 Kamindu Mendis, 4 Dhananjaya de Silva, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Praveen Jayawickrama

South Africa: 1 Janneman Malan, 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Reeza Hendricks, 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Wiaan Mulder, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 George Linde, 9 Keshav Maharaj (capt), 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi

Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo’s Sri Lanka correspondent. @afidelf

This article was originally published by Espncricinfo.com. Read the original article here.

Sri Lanka bat against unchanged South Africa in series decider as Maheesh Theekshana debuts

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