Sri Lanka in South Africa (2011-2012)

That's twice in the last 3 months that SA have dismissed a side for under 50. When on the absolute top of their game, their attack is superb. Morkel was outstanding. SL had no answer and I can't see how they will come up with some answers. Their bowling was pedestrian, Nuwan looked decent and Malinga was excellent but everything else was poor. Mendis serves no purpose anymore. Batting was just calamitous, Dilshan is proving to be little more than a walking wicket. Losing early wickets doesn't bode well for a very inexperienced lower middle order. Unless SA take their foot of the gas, SL could keep getting blown away. What a start for AB, one of the most decisive victories in ODI history.

I suppose that game was a bit of an anomaly but as Mikey says, they have been consistently poor in both formats. Vaas and Murali leaving has left a giant hole in the side that doesn't look like it will be filled anytime soon. Massive changes are not plausible until they improve their squad of players but they need to start making sensible changes immediately. For one, Dilshan is an abysmal captain possessing no ingenuity or tactical nous. It's really time to replace him with someone else, maybe Mathews. It would be a bit of a burden on Mathews expecting him to be an all-rounder and captain the side but I can't see who else would take it. They can't keep letting Dilshan lead though, it's just not gonna work out. 

RSA go 2-0 up, I saw the game and I must say SLN, although it looks like they have improved a bit and shown some fight, it isn't like that. They have shown no character, at the start of the innings they were going at just over 1 run per over, desperately trying not to lose wickets, then even at the end Mathews and Chandimal were playing desperately trying not to get out and just take singles, they were so scared and didn't want a 43 all out embarrassment again!

Edited by sam_ahmed - 15 January 2012 at 5:54am

The pitch at East London was so slow , making attractive shot making practically impossible.  SA were always in control of the run chase and JP Duminy will feel pretty good after making a match winning half century.
            Resting Kallis and losing Amla gives Peterson another chance and who knows , if he does the business we might just see Smith missing out soon !

Smith failed yet again yesterday , yorked for just 2 by Malinga.  Duckworth/Lewis won in the end though after a torrential downpour typical of the highveld in summer.  SA won by just 4 runs but on a flat deck I'd have expected them to get home against this attack.  The one contentious issue was the run out of JP Duminy - he seemed well over the line when the wicket was broken , but Billy Doctove didn't agree and the SA dressingroom showed their disgust with the call.  I'm no fan of Doctrove as a standing umpire - far too many mistakes , but I understand his incompetence now - he simply can't see properly!

Ya I was watching the game, and that run out was shocking, it was not even like "difficult to say" thing, he was clearly in and still the 3rd umpire gave that out!

SA can experiment more now that the series is in the bag. Would like to see Botha, Parnell and Philander all given a game. 

I am still unconvinced by Peterson in the shorter format. Would really like to have seen Levi given a go but perhaps don't want him to be exposed to Malinga in his first ODI lol.

Big changes look in place for SL cricket. Selectors axed and Dilshan and Marsh likely to go as well. Don't know about Marsh but Dilshan has to go as captain, probably time to start thinking about whether he should go as a player. His contribution is virtually nothing these days. He is riding off the back of success in the 2009 T20 WC and the 2011 ODI WC. Since then, he has been an abject failure and I doubt he can offer much more as SL go forward. They need consistency, caution and determination (e.g. how PAK have approached their team selection since the 2010 debacle) and I don't think Dilshan's swashbuckling style really brings this to the table.

Well done to Thisara, he is a very handy cricketer. Very crucial dismissal of AB at an important stage in the innings and a great to watch explosive innings too. Mind boggling that they were playing Kosala ahead of him who was barely bowling and hardly got a hit. Dilshan played decently but I still think he should go, I can't see what he brings long-term. He is already 34 I believe.

Disappointing from SA. Should have showed that killer instinct they were talking about and finished the series off 5-0. Albie shouldn't have been dropped for starters. AB's decision to bring a slow left armer on when Perera was batting wasn't very intelligent. I think du Plessis is getting short-changed, he is a very good batsman. They keep playing him at 6 and 7 and he comes in with 5 or so overs to go often and is required to hit it out of the park from ball one. That's not really in his game, he should be batting 4 or 5. I don't know how they can play him there though because Amla, Smith, Kallis, AB and Duminy is pretty set in stone as top 5. Also, bowling was pretty poor. As sam said, Peterson was very ordinary and Botha should really get a game at Jo'burg. Sledge's assessment of Parnell is spot on, very inconsistent but he had a decent enough game. Vernon isn't an ODI bowler though, keep him for the Tests. This game highlighted how much SA need Dale Steyn; even if he isn't bowling at his best and taking wickets, they need his experience and control at key stages in the match.

I would like to see ABD at 3, Faf at 4 and JP at 5 and keep Ingram and Morkel at 6 and 7. RSA lost the game at Kimberley because they didn't really have explosive batsmen coming in at those positions but I feel Ingram's aggressive nature is better suited to the lower middle order and same for Morkel. RSA seemed hesitant to launch in the last game because they didn't want to expose a pretty long tail too early. With Ingram, Morkel, Botha and Parnell; there's plenty of batting all the way to number 9 so more license for the likes of AB to play shots early on. 

Good win for Sl , but it was a dead rubber. Smith obviously read Sam's post and got his ton and a good ton from de Villiers too. The 2nd string attack just couldn't prevent the Lankans from winning pretty much as they liked - I think they'll be glad to be going home after what's been an arduous tour.
            New Zealand next month for the South Africans and then on to England in the Summer - tough schedule and Kallis and Steyn will need careful handling.

Somewhat harsh on Marsh (no pun intended!) for him to go after 4 months. To be frank, he had nothing to work with, especially when the big guns weren't firing and the youth are really nothing of note!

Yup Smith read my post Sledge, and I was very very happy for him yesterday, a well deserved century and that'll shut up the critics for some time.

Dead right Sledger, Dilshan's winning rate was really poor and his effectiveness with the bat, barring his majestic 195 against England was not at test standard. I am of the opinion that Kumar quit, not because of the workload (especially considering he doesn't keep wicket anymore in tests), but because he knew without Murali and to a lesser extent Vaas, that Sri Lanka would not be winning many games - instead of bearing the brunt of the responsibility for the losses, he premptively quit the captaincy. Even he would have known there was no one of note to replace him, especially as Dilshan is OLDER than him, Mahela has been there and done that with the captaincy and there is no one else viable for the job in the side.

Edited by Mikey - 24 January 2012 at 5:43am

Mathews doesn't quite come across as leadership material, not just yet. He's still young and still needs to do a little bit more to cement his spot in the side. He's a batsmen who can bowl a bit, and he WILL struggle on wickets that suit the seamers - I don't think I've ever seen him leave the ball. The Sri Lankans are really struggling when it comes to leadership and there is way too much politics when it comes to selection and management. A strong Sri Lanka is great for world cricket, but right now I dare say they're at their worst in a decade.