(Cricket news) South Africa didn’t get off to a perfect start but bounced back magnificently against West Indies, for Sri Lanka they had a brilliant start but were brought back to reality when they lost to Australia. Both the sides will be looking for their second victory and consolidate their position in the group.

The pre match headlines for South Africa have been dominated by Quinton De Kock, his refusal to take the knee and not play for South Africa against West Indies has been heavily scrutinized by the cricketing committee. It is most likely that De Kock won’t play as South Africa will continue with Reeza Hendricks at the top of order, he scored 39 off 30 against West Indies especially when he had no clue he was playing. A lot of onus will be on Rababa and Nortje to take wickets up front and then let the spinners do the job in the middle overs, Rabada’s success against Kusal Perera is not that great as he has faced 17 balls and smacked him for 29 runs in T20s. 

Sri Lanka will be disappointed after a below average performance against Australia, but they need to up their game to keep their hopes of qualifying for the semifinals. Sri Lanka got white washed 3-0 in September when South Africa toured Sri Lanka but The Lions since then have improved a lot as a cricketing side. Sri Lanka is likely going to use Maheesh Theekshana, the unconventional spinner who made the South African sweat will again be the key for the Lankans. The Sri Lanka management mostly will get an extra spinner in the form of Akila Dananjaya as the Sharjah pitch in these past matches have given a lot of assistance to the slower bowlers especially.

Head to head: South Africa 11 – 5 Sri Lanka, (2-1 in World T20 competitions) 

Pitch and weather report: Sharjah has been one of the most difficult venues to bat and that trend will most likely continue, winning the toss won’t be a factor going into the match as dew will not be a factor in an afternoon match.The temperature is going to hover around 35 to 33 degrees as there is no chance of rain.

Interesting facts:

• After 50 T20I innings, Shanaka's overall strike rate is 106.26. He has hit only two fifties
• Shamsi, the top-ranked T20I bowler in the world, has taken 29 wickets and maintained an economy rate of 5.81 this year. 
• Wanindu Hasaranga, the world No. 2, has arguably been better however, taking one fewer wicket in two fewer outings, with an economy of 5.52.
• South Africa have a better win ratio in T20Is against Sri Lanka than they do against any other opponents except New Zealand. They have beaten the Lankans and the Kiwis 11 times each.

Also read: T20 World Cup: England and Australia lock horns to stay undefeated table toppers

Probable XI for South Africa:

1 Temba Bavuma (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk) 3 Reeza Hendricks, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Rassie van der Dussen, 6 David Miller, 7 Dwaine Pretorius, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi

Probable XI for Sri Lanka:

1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Perera (wk), 3 Charith Asalanka, 4 Avishka Fernando, 5 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt.), 7 Chamika Karunaratne, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Maheesh Theekshana/Akila Dananjaya, 11 Lahiru Kumara